Hooked, a new app designed to help college students find cheap meals nearby, is offering free food deals and coupons at restaurants near NC State’s campus for the next two weeks.
The two-week offer began because more than 2,500 NC State students downloaded the app.
“It’s a great way to spend less and find new places to eat,” said Chandler Pearce, the Hooked Sales and Business Developer for NC State. “I hope it will remind students of the many amazing places in the area. We want people to experience every type of food, not just fast food.”
By teaming up with local businesses, Hooked offers students special, time-sensitive meal deals. Hooked allows local businesses to create an effective mobile brand and promote themselves to students, according to Tim Rothwell, co-founder and CEO of Hooked.
Offering deals on the app is completely free for restaurants, providing a low-risk, effective way to market itself to students. To prepare for the launch at NC State, Pearce went out to all the restaurants and talked to the owners.
“The businesses are happy with it because they get more business all throughout the day,” Pearce said.
Hooked is available for free download for Apple and Android devices. The app includes restaurants on Hillsborough Street, in Cameron Village, Mission Valley and downtown Raleigh.
A wide variety of restaurants are available on the app, including Marco’s Pizza, Freshii, Coffee Haven, Golden Dragon, McDonald’s and more.
Before this fall, Hooked was available on only five college campuses. Now, the company is expanding to 10 more schools, the first of which is NC State.
Katie McCallister, a junior studying social work, said she is going to start checking the app before going out to eat.
“It’s couponing for college students, minus the scissors,” McCallister said. “It’s really easy to use.”
In order to claim a deal at the restaurant, Hooked users just have to click on the deal they want by tapping “Get Hooked” in the app and showing it to the restaurant worker.
The two-week free food period began Monday, and students can enjoy a free hot dog at The Alley on Friday.
Rothwell co-founded the company with his childhood friend Brett Berman, who serves as chief operating officer. Hooked was first launched at the University of Texas in 2013.
“It really took off by the end of the first year,” Rothwell said. “We had nearly half the student body signed up.”
NC State is the sixth school at which Hooked has launched and the first market to kick off its national expansion, according to Rothwell.
The Hooked team started getting businesses on board during the summer so that the deals would be ready for the start of school.
“The team is very excited to get Hooked up and running in Raleigh,” Rothwell said.
