Finding a barber, braider, or even an event with the right kind of music isn’t always easy for students from marginalized communities.
The founders of Hyve, having faced this struggle themselves, decided to use their ion for technology to create a solution. Hyve is a student-run tech startup, connecting students, particularly from minority communities to local service providers and campus events. Founded in 2023 by Muyi Omorogbe, Sci ’24, Bright Olaleye, Sci ’24, Msendoo Nongo, Sci ’24, Ryan Lee, Sci ’24, Sere Otubu, Sci ’25, and Al-Barr Ajiboye, CompSci ’25, the platform aims to address the challenge of finding culturally relevant services in a predominately white university town while ing POC-owned businesses.
Omorogbe, speaking for the team, shared how all co-founders struggled to find culturally familiar services during their time at Queen’s. This shared challenge sparked the idea to create a platform that simplifies access to these services.
“When we arrived at Queen’s, we quickly realized a major gap in accessibility to services and experiences that catered to us. For example, finding someone who could properly cut, or braid Black hair was a challenge—asking around often led to recommendations from people who had no experience with Black hair,” Omorogbe said in an interview with The Journal.
“Everything, from barbers, braiders, DJs, events, and even where to get food items, was discovered purely through word of mouth, making it difficult for newcomers or those outside certain circles to access these services. Recognizing this gap, and with our strong backgrounds in software development, we saw an opportunity to create a platform that centralizes and simplifies access to these community-driven services,” Omorogbe said.
The idea for Hyve began at the 2023 University of Toronto NSBE Hackathon as a mock-project called “Hair Hive,” aimed at helping students find hair services. The concept then expanded to include various services and events.
Students can choose from a variety of vendors providing these services, with payment and communication handled seamlessly through the web app.
Since the platform’s launch on Jan. 27, its impact has been evident with over 50,000 social media interactions, 20,000 page views, $20,000 in service revenue for local businesses, and $10,000 raised through community events.
According to Omorogbe, most of the revenue for Hyve comes from hosting events and investments. The team is still working on monetization of their main product.
“We thought, why not make this something that benefits the whole community? Since then, Hyve has grown into a one-stop platform where students can book services and stay informed about campus happenings,” Omorogbe said.
However, building Hyve has not been without its challenges.
“Maintaining code updates while implementing new features was one of our toughest challenges. We used the Jira software to keep things structured in order to stay on top of things. There were also some financial challenges. We got some funding from Queen’s Smith Engineering faculty, and now we’ve started looking for other funding sources, including investors and incubators. To raise money, we’re also organizing a Hyve pop-up store with exclusive clothing,” Omorogbe said.
The Hyve team hopes to expand to other campuses across Canada. They’re also working on a mobile app to make the offerings more accessible and -friendly.
“Through this web app, we help student entrepreneurs expand their enterprises by offering marketing tools, event listings, and booking pages,” Omorogbe said. “Hyve is actually making a difference. Students are finding services that make their lives easier, and local providers are getting new clients and growing their businesses.”
For student entrepreneurs looking to create tech solutions, Omorogbe advises solving real problems, leveraging university resources, and using to build community.
“People don’t just products—they movements.”
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