Build Mode returns with a brand new episode! This season, we’re focusing on valuable insights from the realm of go-to-market strategies. Startup Battlefield editor Isabelle Johannessen interviewed Luna’s co-founder Jas Schembri-Stothart and Untapped Solutions’ founder Andre Peart, who shared their distinct experiences in connecting with specialized customer groups after participating in the 2024 Startup Battlefield competition.
In our premiere episode featuring Deon Nicholas, co-founder of Forethought AI, we discussed what it means to build a business centered around the customer. Now, in our second installment, we’re exploring unconventional tactics and creative experiments that proved successful in engaging two very different groups: teenage girls and individuals reentering the workforce after incarceration.
Luna, a wellness app designed for girls, faced a clear challenge: neither of its co-founders were teenagers themselves. To gather the necessary feedback and perspectives, Schembri-Stothart and her team visited schools across the U.K., where students gave them tough but honest critiques and even expressed interest in contributing to the app’s development. These students became the first wave of brand ambassadors, acting as both behind-the-scenes contributors and content creators who promoted the app on social media. They essentially formed their own go-to-market team, organizing activations at major events like Taylor Swift concerts, where they knew their target users would be present in large numbers.
Untapped Solutions encountered a different set of obstacles. As a platform described as the “LinkedIn for the formerly incarcerated,” Peart needed to ensure that the service could reach individuals currently or previously incarcerated, helping them secure jobs. To achieve this in a field with little existing technology, they took to the speaking circuit and even launched their own National Reentry Coalition and event, which began this April. Along with collaborations with organizations that support the 600,000 people released from prison each year, this has helped the platform become increasingly widespread.
“We’re present in nearly every prison system,” Peart explained. “So if you’re using a tablet, Untapped is already available to you.”
