FundBridge

FundBridge connects student innovators with the right teammates and funding. FundBridge builds recommends research grants based off of a short survey.

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Inspiration

We were inspired by how difficult it can be for students, especially those new to research or working in smaller colleges, to find collaborators and funding. Many great ideas never leave the notebook because students don’t know where to begin, who to team up with, or how to apply for grants. We wanted to change that by creating a tool that bridges this gap.

What it does

FundBridge is a web platform where students can:

  • Fill out a quick survey to describe their goals, skills, and interests
  • Be matched into balanced project teams using AI logic
  • Explore ongoing projects and request to join
  • Receive smart research grant recommendations based on their team’s profile
  • Get help drafting grant applications with AI-generated descriptions We focused on a clean, student-friendly UI that makes the process feel welcoming and accessible.

How we built it

  • Frontend: React, Vite, CSS
  • Routing: React Router
  • Mock AI Utilities: Simulated AI matching and recommendations using placeholder logic
  • Structure: Pages for landing, login/register, welcome, survey, explore, project profile, and grant assistant
  • Collaboration: Built collaboratively using GitHub, with live testing throughout

Challenges we ran into

  • Narrowing down our idea into something buildable within a few hours
  • Deciding how to simulate AI features without a full backend to have a fully functional demo
  • Designing a user flow that made sense from login to team formation to funding
  • Timeboxing design vs development so we had a functional MVP by the deadline

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We're proud that we created something meaningful, a platform that could genuinely help students and researchers connect, collaborate, and bring their ideas to life. We’re also proud of how much we were able to build in such a short amount of time. We worked effectively as a team, balancing design and development tasks, and learned how to adapt quickly when plans changed.

What we learned

  • How to build multi-page web apps using React, and React Router
  • How to structure and pass data between components in a scalable way
  • The importance of user flow, keeping the experience simple and intuitive, especially for new users
  • How to prioritize features and work efficiently as a team under time pressure

What's next for FundBridge

Our first priority is moving the platform to the cloud to support real-time collaboration, user authentication, and scalable data storage. We also plan to integrate multiple grant APIs to expand and provide users with accurate, up-to-date funding opportunities from a wide range of sources. In the future, we want to make FundBridge truly global, allowing students not only to find grants in their region but to connect with international collaborators and apply for cross-border funding. Our vision is to build a smart, inclusive ecosystem where anyone, anywhere, can turn their ideas into reality with the right team and support.

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