Brasília University student develops app at Harvard

A Communication undergraduate at the University of Brasilia (UnB), 23-year-old Jéssica Behrens developed an innovative application that was approved by the University of Harvard's Harvard Innovation Lab for development. Named Tradr, the app enables users to trade in second-hand items quickly and easily.

The idea began as a giveaway experiment when Behrens decided to dispose of some of her possessions one item a day over a year. “I had difficulties finding people quickly who might be interested in what I was giving away, cool stuff that I didn't want to simply dump as waste. Then I realized that there was no quick way to connect things to the people who wanted them.”

Tradr began to become a reality when she mentioned the story to a friend who graduated from Harvard. “He found it a very cool idea and referred me to start-up developers. The project was submitted as an entry and approved for execution at Harvard Innovation Lab,” Behrens recalls. She went to the United States to run the project. The university helped with infrastructure, and the group succeeded in finding a small investor to sponsor it.

She said two factors were crucial in Harvard's decision to support the project. “First, we developed an algorithm that records what users like and increasingly shows similar products. Also, the app fosters collaborative economy and fair trade by encouraging local buying and selling,” she explained.

Behrens pointed out that Tradr can even be used by small businesses “selling handmade products that have no physical stores or money to spend on digital marketing.” The app is currently available on a beta version and already has 2,200 users. It is available for free download and currently runs on Apple iOS only.

Translated by Mayra Borges