TrueNorth
Votes count toward the final judging results.
Who worked on what
Komal Harshita Karanakota — product development, frontend/backend Abhijna Laxmi — UX research, content, community strategy Niharika Niranjan — AI features, branding, UI/UX, presentation
What it does
TrueNorth is a women-only community built primarily for college women and women in STEM who want meaningful connection, support, and a sense of belonging. We help women discover a community where they can connect with people who share their interests, experiences, and ambitions. The current experience includes women-only onboarding, community access, an active LinkedIn presence, and a private Discord community through invitation. Rather than being another generic social platform, TrueNorth is being built as a trusted space for women to find their people, exchange experiences, and grow together. Future features will expand this into interest-based connections, smaller community circles, mentorship, events, resources, and more personalized ways to discover relevant people and opportunities.
Are women the primary users, and how does that show
Yes. Women are the primary users, with a particular focus on college women and women in STEM. We identified a gap between being constantly connected online and actually having a supportive community of people who understand your experiences. Women can struggle to find female peers with similar interests, feel isolated despite being digitally connected, and may hesitate to discuss personal or career experiences in general online spaces. TrueNorth addresses this by making the community women-only from the beginning, including women-focused onboarding and access to a private Discord community through invitation. Our product direction is intentionally centered around belonging rather than simply networking. Future features such as interest-based matching, smaller community circles, mentorship, women-focused events, and safer discussion spaces will further reflect the needs of women navigating college, STEM, careers, and personal growth.
Product link
https://her-truenorth.lovable.app/
Demo video link
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yyzSk4QyKRZ3N_-O9Pt-Lw3AiSPcDpMo/view?usp=sharing
Pitch deck link
https://canva.link/lovbfkckghxs3yd
Off-the-shelf tools used
Lovable, TanStack Start, React 19, TypeScript, Vite, Tailwind CSS, Radix UI, shadcn/ui patterns, Lucide React, TanStack React Query, Lenis, Zod, date-fns, Nitro, Bun, ESLint, Prettier, Google Fonts (Libre Baskerville + DM Sans), GitHub, Discord, LinkedIn