OLD BRIDGE – The successful launch of their PromSocial app in early January has landed many opportunities for Michael Hudak and Edward Abdel-Malak, including an audition for ABC’s hit series “Shark Tank Season 11,” for which they were finalists.
PromSocial is a mobile app that helps teens prepare for prom and connects them with retailers for all their prom needs. In the next five years, the Old Bridge natives hope their app will be the go-to platform for everything prom.
“[Since our launch] we have almost 5,000 users on the app [across the country],” said Abdel-Malak, who serves as chief executive officer.
In addition to the app’s existing user base, they now have verbal commitment from a large diverse high school that has agreed to use the app for Prom 2020.
And as they continue to grow and expand, Abdel-Malak said they have recently launched their first crowdfunding campaign on Wefunder to raise money from investors to focus on the individual users. The campaign is open through January.
The goal is to raise $50,000 to $100,000 to add key features to the app, which will enhance the user experience and allow them to begin monetizing the app. In addition, half of the investment will go toward marketing the app more broadly, allowing them to continue on-boarding prom-goers and prom retailers across the country.
Through the app, prom-goers can share experiences through a news feed and find everything in the prom industry from limousines, dresses and tuxedos, to places for shoes, nails and hair through a retail vendor directory.
“Anyone can invest in PromSocial,” Abdel-Malak said.
PromSocial plans to remain free of charge to users. Prom is expensive enough, and the app developers do not want to add to that list of expenses, Abdel-Malak said.
Instead, revenue for the company will come from its retail partners via three main streams. Partners pay a monthly subscription fee to be listed on the platform and commission. The monthly subscription fee will vary by retailer but will likely be somewhere between $20 to $50 per month, Abdel-Malak said.
All apparel and accessory sales, limo bookings, hair appointments, floral purchases and any other prom-related service found and booked through the app is subject to a commission paid back to PromSocial, between 3-7% of sales.
Advertising opportunities are also available to extend retail presence and reach within the app for retail partners looking to maximize their exposure and sales.
Since launching, Abdel-Malak, and Hudak,who serves as chief operating officer, have joined forces with Ravi Koltur, who serves as the app’s chief technology officer, and Darrel D. Frater, vice president of growth and marketing.
The idea for PromSocial was born in 2013 when both Hudak, a graduate of St. John Vianney High School in Holmdel, and Abdel-Malak, a graduate of Old Bridge High School, were having lunch in New York City.
With 17 million high school students in the country, and the average attendee spending $919 on their prom experience, the industry in the U.S. alone has ballooned to a record $4 billion nationwide and continues to grow, they said.
By bringing the audience on to their platform – just as The Knot and Wedding Wire did for the wedding industry – PromSocial is doing the same for the prom industry, Abdel-Malak said.
For more information about the crowdfunding campaign, visit wefunder.com/promsocial.
For more information about PromSocial, visit promsocial.com. The PromSocial app can be downloaded for free on the Google Play or App Store.
Contact Kathy Chang at kchang@newspapermediagroup.com.
