Carole Heine ’84 and her team, Dillon Myers and Alan Gibson, have expanded their product and have focused on delivering live video to the education and longevity markets.
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Carole, director of business development:
First and foremost, we changed our name from Potluck.chat to OneClick.chat. We wanted our name to reflect how easy our product is to use—you enter a video chat with one click. It’s really exciting that we currently have people connecting from 35 different countries. Improvements in wifi will enable people to connect from all around the world.
With a startup, things are changing daily. Two big milestones are a new product with our 12-person meeting room, and mobile compatibility. New features are always being developed and tested. Software in never finalized.
Carole: The video technology that’s currently in the market is not easy to use; it requires a download and is complicated. OneClick.chat is web-based, which means no downloads. We have focused on removing barriers so people of all abilities can participate. We’re excited about what this year will hold for us with product design, growing our team and continuing to make video chat for social engagement accessible to people of all ages. We’re in the business of making video chat accessible and engaging for everyone.
Please use the promo code Hood50 to create a meeting room or host a live event.
Dillon, co-founder and CEO:
We’ve had a lot of traction in the education space since our pitch last year. We’ve brought on university alumni offices, career centers, and scholarship and fellowship programs. We were recently the streaming partner for EduCon, which is a national conference for innovation in secondary education. We streamed in-person events to high school teachers and principals across the country.
Alan, co-founder and chair:
Even as we continue to grow in the education space, we’re really excited about our new initiative into the longevity market, which is an enormous and growing market. The impetus for this was the successful findings that we got from a recent NIH-funded research grant; it showed that OneClick.chat could help reduce social isolation and the negative outcomes associated with it in older adults. By providing more opportunities for these adults through OneClick, we improve their quality of life.
Chelsea Young ’14, owner of MOD Nutrition, has expanded her clientele since the 2018 Hood Pitch Competition. She is now serving meals and coaching nutrition in the Columbia and Baltimore areas.
Kit Peteranecz, owner of Game Envy, and his wife, Ali Peteranecz ’06, have expanded their product lines and markets since the 2018 Hood Pitch Competition.
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