Versa helps artists gain visibility
Versa e-commerce platform helps artists gain visibility during pandemic
At InceptionU, we are very proud of our learners and what they can accomplish in just six short months. It’s an intense deep dive into the world of coding, software development, critical thinking, teamwork and problem-solving.
Over the course of the program, they deepen their knowledge of programming and spend the last three months building an actual software program which they present on Demo Day. In this series, we introduce you to our learners and invite you to see for yourself their creativity, design skills, teamwork and problem-solving skills. These projects represent months of hard work and, ultimately, helped many of our learners connect and find jobs with some of Calgary’s leading tech companies. Enjoy and share this post with a friend or colleague who you think might find it interesting.
Who:
Why:
During the pandemic, 30% of Canadian businesses have seen revenues decline. Lockdowns, social distancing and lack of events mean people just aren’t shopping the way they used to. Calgary’s artistic community has been drastically impacted as they’re not able to have the same visibility with the public as they did pre-pandemic.
What they built:
Versa is an e-commerce platform uniting artists and their communities. It is different from other e-commerce platforms such as Etsy and Market Collective. Versa concentrates on three main users - artists, consumers and drivers. It’s a highly sophisticated platform that gives the artists in-depth analytics about who is buying their products, how much and how often.
Facilitator’s Comments: Tony Enerson, Duck Labs
“What impressed me was the amount of functionality they were able to accomplish in such a short period of time. They built core work flows for getting the artist to put items in the store and allow people to buy them. They had a third user they identified early on which was the delivery agent. Their app was complete; it is a full three-sided marketplace.
They needed the most coaching to keep themselves on track because they had lots of ambition. A lot of teaching was spent on how to actually manage workflow, breaking things down and sequencing those things, so you can deliver it all, as opposed to trying to do it all at once, failing and getting stuck in the mire.
As a group, they gelled really well and worked together really well.”
