After witnessing brand ambassadors yelling out “free boba” to passersby on a tour for newly admitted students, a group of freshmen from UT, Texas A&M and Stanford joined forces with a new idea.
“They had such a valuable product (free boba) in front of them … and they didn’t have a good way to convey it in any way,” Rashid said.
To provide an alternative to word-of-mouth, Mohammad Rashid, a UT computer science freshman, Krish Singh, an A&M computer engineering freshman and Joshua Ayuk, a Stanford undeclared freshman, created the Merch app. The application allows users to take a picture of a free item and automatically notes the location and time, posting it on a 3D map and automating a description of the freebie using AI.
“As a student, when you’re walking on campus, your main focus is not looking for free stuff,” Singh said. “Being able to get that stuff while you’re doing your own thing and running on your own schedule is what really makes (the app) efficient.”
As Rashid researched the frequency of free product giveaways on college campuses, he found that many students spread the word through group chats that didn’t provide details such as how long the product had been there, how much was left and what the product looked like.
“All that information is a lot of work for constants who are very busy,” Rashid said. “So we thought maybe we can simplify it.”
The group built Merch over the course of the summer in 2025 and distributed it at Longhorn Orientation in July. They sought feedback from their friends at orientation, gathering initial reactions to the app. When the fall semester started, Rashid said they went full force, spreading the app link through group chats for campus freebies, and from there, it took off.
“It was all mainly driven by other students, random students we’ve never met,” Rashid said. “We’ve been seeing posts, likes, comments, huge engagement every single day, and the best part is, we don’t really do anything to update the app.”
With over 4,000 verified users and 600 unique freebie posts at UT on the app to date, the Merch app informs students about free items using push notifications, a 3D map that shows students the location of free products on campus and chat features that allow students to update the status of posts. The app also expanded to A&M and Stanford campuses with a chat feature where students can communicate across campuses.
“(The app) heightened my familiarity with the campus itself, and it just made that learning curve of (navigating) the college campus way faster,” Singh said.
Beyond free items, the app also shares opportunities with students, allowing them to connect with others in the community. Astronomy freshman Isabela Torres said she received a notification through the app that former U.S. representative Beto O’Rourke was on campus and taking free pictures with students.
“I got to meet him because of the notification,” Torres said. “I thought that was really cool.”
With the large influx of users that the app initially received, the group experienced difficulties exceeding their database allowance. Ayuk said they responded by making their code more efficient as the number of users continues to increase.
“It was a really cool experience because we got to see that what we’re doing is actually like working and growing,” Ayuk said. “But also, we (have) got to adjust and adapt like you always do.”
