The two students Marwand Ayubi and Baran Yarali are studying business informatics in their 3rd semester at HHN. They got the idea for their start-up through their exam project: An app that communicates between guests and service staff in the restaurant and club scene to conveniently process orders, reservations and payments.
Semester three in the Business Information Systems course: The lecture “Software Technology and Mobile Systems” is on the syllabus and the students have to design a mobile app for their final exam. Marwand Ayubi and Baran Yarali are therefore working on a gastronomy app that will handle ordering processes between guests and restaurants. Whether it’s a salad, a pizza or a steak — guests should be able to select their food and drinks conveniently from their seats in the restaurant via the app — without having to wait for service staff. This will be made possible by a QR code on the tables in the restaurant. The desired payment method is also to be freely selectable. “That was our basic concept for our final exam at Heilbronn University,” says Marwand Ayubi. “And while we were working on this basic idea, we thought, let’s think this topic further.”
As the two continue to brainstorm to that end, they lay the foundation for their company. “We just kept spinning the theme. We started by expanding our basic idea to include more locations. Nightclubs and bars are now included as well,” says fellow student Baran Yarali.
The two students would also like their app to have other functions: Users should also be able to decide which restaurant is best suited to their specific needs. “That saves having to use search engines, for example,” explains Baran Yarali. Making reservations independently is also very important to the two men as an option. Their vision is crystal clear: “We want to be an ‘all-in-one solution’,” Yarali continues.
So the goal is an app that can simply organize everything to do with going out — even before the visit: reservations, order acceptance and selectable payment methods.
“After arriving at the restaurant, guests just scan their QR code at the table, and that’s it,” says Marwand Ayubi. “The restaurant management now knows that the guests are there, the food arrives at the table a short time later, and after their stay, visitors* can simply leave the restaurant or bar again.”
Lecture shapes founders of tomorrow
The further development of the app idea provides the final input that motivates the two to found their own company. It had been clear to both of them for some time that they would like to set up a company together one day. Their visions and goals have now become reality — both have recently become the managing directors of their own start-up company. The university also provided support: “Our professor in the course, Ms. Mahsa Fischer, supported us in our plans and provided us with important contacts. We are really very grateful to her for that,” says Marwand Ayubi.
Guest and restaurant talk via the end devices used in each case — The restaurant management receives the order and important information, for example about the omission of certain ingredients in the meal, directly on the devices already in use in the service. “We also plan to offer pre-installed terminals. But the app will be installable everywhere. So it’s not necessary to purchase a new device from us to offer this service to guests.”
The name of the new Heilbronn-based start-up has to remain a secret due to ongoing audits, but the young men are already revealing one thing: It could be possible to download their free app in mid-2023.
(Source: From the press release of Heilbronn University, July 04, 2022)