An app for an online marketplace built for college students to safely buy, sell and rent won first place for the Product Teams track at Demo Day, the capstone event that follows a semester of work in U of A's McMillon Innovation Studio. 

Swaply, which also won the audience choice award, is creating a secure, student-exclusive marketplace that serves as an alternative to Facebook Marketplace, GroupMe and Instagram. 

Founder Walter Sarmiento said there was no "eureka moment" behind Swaply, just trends he noticed across campus negatively impacting students. 

"It was a pattern. One too many friends getting scammed or ghosted during campus deals. One too many transactions that felt like a gamble," Sarmiento said. 

"We are not trying to build an app — we are trying to fix a broken experience. So we are building Swaply to create what should've existed all along: a student-only marketplace that feels safe, structured and built for how we actually live on campus."

Last month, Swaply finished second in the High Growth/Technology Undergraduate division at the Arkansas Governor's Cup. The team also includes Joe Boehler, co-founder and chief financial officer; Christopher Heffernan, developer; Syd Suresh, co-founder and chief technology officer; and Joshua Yustana, developer.  

Swaply allows users to list and browse items for sale. Users can bid on items or use a "buy now" function. There is also an option to pick a pre-set meeting spot.  

Sarmiento said Swaply plans to have its minimum viable product (MVP) out by late May. He said they're prepopulating the marketplace with inventory from their ambassadors and students moving out of the dorms. Swaply aims to have 3,000 active users by the end of the year and scale to another university campus. 

The team will also continue working on Swaply in the Student Business Incubator, a new initiative overseen by the U of A Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation that helps undergrads with fledgling business ideas. 

SBI is a 10-week immersion program that will pay students full-time and also provide support via expert workshops, mentorship and co-working space.  

"The validation and reception at Demo Day was nice. Execution is better," Sarmiento said. 

"Demo Day showed us the problem is real; the demand is bigger than we thought, and people are ready for a better way to buy, sell and rent on campus. But this is just one step. The real work starts now." 

Swaply was part of the Product Teams track in the studio, which helps teams create a product that has a viable go-to-market strategy. The other impact tracts include organizational, social and entrepreneurial. 

Launched in 2016, the studio is U of A's innovation hub and is open to students across campus. The studio works to develop future leaders, entrepreneurs and innovators by cultivating their creative mindset and connecting them to opportunities to make real-world impact. 

Students in the studio are given access to valuable mentorship and resources — providing further support to cultivate their creative skills and empower them to deliver impact innovation through organizational, social and entrepreneurial change.  

Past Demo Day winners have included applications for improving the work-life balance of J.B. Hunt employees and enhancing postpartum care in Arkansas. 

Jessica Andrews, the studio's interim director, said each Demo Day reminds her "just how powerful student-driven innovation can be," adding that this semester's teams were "truly something special." 

"From reimagining how students buy and sell on campus to gamifying the museum experience to connecting new moms, our students tackled challenges by leading with empathy," Andrews said. 

"Their work was bold and creative, and I'm incredibly proud of the long hours, tough pivots and creative leaps each team embraced." 

SPRING 2025 DEMO DAY WINNERS

ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN TEAMS   

DriveHero 

• Scope: DriveHero is an app that transforms gig-driver's overwhelming chaos into a clear, profitable route, forecasting pay and guiding every shift. 

• Project lead: Ignacio Balderrama, sophomore, finance and computer science 

• Team: Jenny Lu, sophomore, data science; Olivia Phillips, junior, international business; Marlan Rhame, junior, supply chain and computer science; Garren Skartvedt, freshman, mechanical engineering 

SOCIAL IMPACT DESIGN TEAMS