Our first member focus is with the team from ethical social media app ‘’MiniDeed. Sakib, who is a current QMUL Software Engineering Degree Apprenticestudent came to us with his and his business partner’s fantastic app, giving people the opportunity to make quick and easy donations. Sakib signed up for the membership scheme in the Summer and attended the Welcome Fair. We found out a little bit more about the app and the journey Sakib and Mehti have been on launching the app.
Tell us about Minideed and where you come up with the idea?
I came across a post by Bana Alabed on Twitter after it was picked up by CNN, JK Rowling and other famous people. In her post, she was describing how difficult the situation in Syria was. And I wanted to donate money to help her, but I couldn't figure out who to donate to, or how else to help her. This is how MiniDeed was conceived.
How can people/companies benefit from using the app?
MiniDeed is ethical social media. Our goal is to connect awareness with action, and make donating to causes you care about super easy and super affordable. Imagine a space where people who care come together as part of a community and support each other’s passions and causes with tiny donations, a few pence at a time. Unlike typical social media, the focus is not on yourself, but on what a community of like-minded people can do to bring about positive change.
How has being a student a Queen Mary helped you on your entrepreneurial journey?
Having a Queen Mary computer science student as part of the MiniDeed team has given us a fresh perspective on trends and current best practices. It's also provided the foundation for meeting similarly-minded people, in terms of ambition and creativity, but who have very different, often opposing perspectives on how to achieve the same result. With MiniDeed, we have a very open atmosphere and culture, where people are invited to share their ideas, no matter how far-fetched they may seem, and be challenged in a way that helps us all grow to develop and deliver an offering that has the potential to change social media for good.
How has the ‘Friends of the SU’ scheme helped you?
We only recently learned about and joined the Friends of the SU program, but since joining we’ve been working closely together. The program gave MiniDeed access to the Welcome Fair, through which we were able to raise awareness of our brand in a fun and interactive way, with hundreds of people stopping to talk to us, expressing really positive feedback, as well as forming new relationships with charities and societies who were present at the event. We are currently working with FoSU to engage RAG and further societies, building on our brand from Fresher’s to grow the MiniDeed community of people who want to do more than just “like” on social media, but want to make a real difference.