 Live on the ground from Galvanize, San Francisco. It's theCUBE covering Amplify Women's Pitch Night. Now, here's John Furrier. Hello everyone, I'm John Furrier with theCUBE on the ground here in San Francisco for Girls in Tech, Amplify Women's Entrepreneurship Pitch Competition. Our next guest is Stephanie Xu, who is the founder of Admit-C, Admit-SEE. Welcome to theCUBE on the ground. You just gave your presentation. How did it go? First, tell us what it is and then how did it go? Sure, we are the first and largest searchable database of successful application files. So that includes grades, test scores, extra curriculars, essays, even the student's advice. And it's essentially a platform that allows college applicants to connect with someone who's already in college, been through that process, and really is a year or two ahead of them, but is similar. So you can be like a first generation student connect with somebody else who's first generation, that kind of thing. So they got a seal for the data around schools and the people who got in. So the prospective college applicant can kind of compare and contrast, is that how it works? Exactly, it's like essentially seeing what a successful example of an application file looks like. A lot of them get inspiration from essays. Stanford, for example, they ask, write a letter to your roommate every single year as their supplemental essay. And so on our site, you can actually see hundreds of students who responded to that particular question and kind of suss out for yourself how you want to address that question. And so what kind of stage is the product in? Is it build? Is it prototype? What's the status? We've launched, we have users, we have customers, people who are paying for it. So really just trying to grow at this point. How many users is it targeted for individuals? Is it targeted at schools or just? It's direct to consumers, so it's individuals, parents. We have some schools that have free access, we've provided them with free access, especially for schools that are in sort of low income areas, that's definitely something that we feel really strongly about. So I actually had a hard question from a judge here. So what's the core action that you like to see people use? You think Snapchat, people say Snaps, Pinterest, people pin. There's always a core action that apps have or platforms. Is there one for you? Is it reading applications? Is it outreaching to students? What would you like to see as the core action for the application? I think to start with, we call it unlocking a profile. So a profile is locked, you get a preview of it to see whether or not it's something you're interested in and then you can unlock to be. A profile of a person who's been through. Yes, of a student. Like I want to go to Stanford, what's it take to get it? What's the algorithm for Stanford? That's what people want to know, right? Right, and so it's unlocking a profile and I think beyond that, the next step is then to ask a question of that student because ultimately we're trying to build this community of students who are helping other students and really giving college students actually a chance to get paid for paying it forward, that's what we call it. So what's the business case and where'd you get the idea from? We started, I started this company as a grad student so it was something that was very top of mind for me. When I applied to grad school, I thought it was something that I could essentially replicate how I applied to college with grad school and it was not at all that similar and it was, the question was why is there not an existing database of successful application files especially of specific essays that I want to write about? Like I took some time off from college undergrad and when I applied to grad school, I had to explain why I interrupted my studies and so that was an essay I've never seen before, I had to write an essay about that and it was very personal and so for some, it might be considered kind of like a controversial topic to write about and it would have been really great to see how somebody else had dealt with that topic. So it's not so much you're cutting and pasting essays, you just get some discovery around things that have worked for others that you can get accelerated on the content side for the application. Sounds like that was what people kind of think about. Yeah, I think a lot of students want to write about things that are very personal to them but they don't know how to address it. So the death of a parent for example, they don't want to come across as a sob story and it's like, how has somebody else really talked about this in a compelling way or for international students, a lot of them think I'm going to write about my ethnic background and they don't really think about how as an international student, almost every person is writing about that so how do you stand out? Well I'm a fellow entrepreneur so I love the idea. I'm thinking instantly that there could be a social network component. Absolutely. I mean I could want to get some help on my grades or maybe get someone to augment my reality if you will. Absolutely. Interesting dynamic there, thoughts? Yeah, so we started with the college application process as sort of the first entry point as a student when you make that decision about where to go to college that's really your first, I think, decision you're making as kind of an independent young adult where you want to spend the next four years of your life. And sometimes they're not even sure. Right, exactly and you don't have anyone to turn to especially if no one you know has applied. Well there's that so some people who even turn to experts, the expert tells them I think you should apply to these colleges based on your personality but more and more we see students are crowdsourcing you know pure insights, right? The real trend is that the people that are the current so-called experts are a short supply and they usually have some biases coming in so you're increasing the data available for the consumer, your customer. Yeah and it's more relevant to the student because you're connecting and talking to people who have the same stats as you, similar backgrounds and they've been through the process before. So what are some of the feedback you've heard? What did the judges say? How many people, where are you guys located? How many people are working in the company? Sure, we're- You have funding so far, are you looking for funding? Give us the story. Yeah, we're based in San Francisco. We're a team of six people right now. We raised a seed round last year and I mean, aren't you always fundraising? That's the thing, right? So I'm thinking about raising more money right now. And Business Milestones, can you share some data around uptake success? Yeah, we have over 200,000 registered users right now. It's a pretty open site so you don't necessarily have to register in order to use the site but sort of our next stage is to be on the application process to really help students mentor each other through post acceptance, making that decision about where to attend school after you've been accepted and we have all these data sets around it so really using that to our advantage. Do you see a pattern, is it a one and done kind of scenario or what keeps the longevity or stickiness of the site because you think, it's kind of like I watched NCAA March Madness and it's over and I don't load the app anymore. I get in the college, am I done? Or how do you keep that flywheel going of engagement? Yeah, absolutely. So I would say the sort of biggest draw to what we're doing that's different from other people is we are really focused on that peer to peer aspect on building that community and that can be applied not just to college applications but they said to post acceptance, choosing a major, choosing internships, grad school and even if you really extrapolate it to finding your first job, right? Like really connecting with someone who is similar to you, recent alums. That's definitely sort of the life cycle that we want to go through. So what are you looking for for funding now? If you had the person watching, seeing this video, what would you be asking for for funding? Like a number? Yeah, 5 million, 10 million, 20 million. How much capital do you need to go the next level? So we're trying to figure out whether or not we want to raise a series A but I think in the interim, I'd like to raise another 500K. We have a number of different marketing initiatives we've really identified. There are a ton of international markets out there that we haven't really tapped into. International students are growing at a rate of, 25% year over year actually enrolled in the U.S. And so- What's your growth going to be for next year? You're 200,000 registered users now. Where do you want to be in a year? Where do you think you'll be in a year? I think we'll be at a million in a year. All right, awesome opportunity. Thanks for sharing here on theCUBE, on the ground. Stephanie Shue, founder of Admit C, which is a great, kind of interesting opportunity around taking the college application process and not making it so hard and so painful, bringing more data. Thanks for sharing. Thank you so much. I'm John Furrier, watching theCUBE on the ground. Here in San Francisco. Thanks for watching.