Echorest lets customers post what they want, where they are and how much they are willing to pay for the service, as well as linking them to offers from various vendors and service providers.
The founder says the platform is already in use. Oki Eli told HumanIPO that “simply, Echorest is the reverse of Craigslist”.
“All along, it was the work of merchants to convince consumers to buy from them. So we thought, why not give the buyer what he wants?” Eli said.
On the platform, users can name what they want, describe it, put a preferred price on it and wait for offers. Every merchant who is related to the product or service will get an SMS alert and can send their offers via email and SMS. The user can then choose the better option.
Eli said that the platform has over 4,000 merchants and 20 buyers using the platform daily, making the three-month-old company a great success.
According to Eli, they started the business while at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT). Eli explained to HumanIPO they spent KSh300,000 (US$ 3,400) to launch, and had to use location-based software as well as integrated SMS platforms.
The company is in the process of applying to be a part of the TechCrunch Disrupt conference, which they believe would offer a launching platform for the business globally.
The application is currently on the Android platform.
