Finding a Thirdspace: Carleton Students Build an App for Real-world Connection
By Ahmed Minhas
When Cedric Osagie graduated from Carleton University’s Bachelor of Commerce program last year, he left not only with a degree but also the beginnings of a new startup. Together with Eshan Betrabet, a Cognitive Science student, he co-founded Thirdspace, a mobile app designed to help students share experiences in real life, in real time.
The idea grew out of a simple problem.
“I was living in a student building and everyone there was a Carleton student, but I didn’t know any of them,” says Osagie.
“I had friends, but I wanted to meet new people to share experiences with, like watching a UFC fight. There wasn’t an easy way to do that.”
While traditional social media offered digital interaction, Osagie found it rarely translated to an in-person connection. That was the starting point for Thirdspace — to bring students together for spontaneous, everyday activities such as grabbing coffee, studying together or going for a walk.
An App Designed to Get Students Offline
The app’s name reflects the informal, everyday connections it encourages.
“The reason we named it Thirdspace is because it’s the place outside of work and home where the purpose isn’t necessarily social interaction, but that’s often where it happens,” Osagie explains.
“Gyms, churches, clubs — these are third spaces.”
The app is currently exclusive to Carleton students. After logging in with their Carleton credentials, users enter an activity they’d like to do. The app uses AI to find a nearby student interested in the same activity. It considers shared interests, academic program, year of study and physical proximity to suggest a match that’s likely to result in a positive social experience.
If both users accept, a live map helps them navigate towards each other. The goal is to meet quickly and in person.
“We didn’t want it to look or feel anything like a dating app,” says Osagie.
“We don’t want people on the app for more than five minutes. The goal is to get them off their phones and into a shared moment.”
Since launching earlier this year, Thirdspace has gained over a thousand users. Osagie and Betrabet say they’re seeing steady growth in the number of activities initiated each week but acknowledge there’s work to be done to improve the user experience and address occasional bugs.
Thirdspace: Created at Carleton, for Carleton
The duo first met at a Carleton Innovation Hub open house. Osagie was conceptualizing the idea of the app when Betrabet — having just returned from a work term at Tesla — walked in wearing a company jacket.
“There’s no way this guy works at Tesla,” Cedric recalls thinking.
That first impression sparked a conversation and the two quickly hit it off.
Over coffee at the campus Starbucks, Osagie shared his idea for the app. As they talked, they realized they had experienced the same problem. Betrabet described how isolating it had been living in San Francisco, where outside of work, he struggled to meet people.
With Osagie’s vision and Betrabet’s technical experience, the foundation for Thirdspace came together quickly.
They credit Carleton’s Innovation Hub for playing a central role in their progress. It gave them workspace, access to peers and mentors, and funding to help support the app’s rollout.
“The Innovation Hub has been critical,” says Osagie. “It gave us space to work and do interviews with users. And through the hub, we got a $2,500 matching grant from Invest Ottawa that helped with our launch.”
Betrabet echoes that impact.
“The hub is where we do all our work and where we’re surrounded by other students who are also building things,” he says.
“It’s been a great space to stay focused and keep momentum.”
Osagie is currently working on Thirdspace full time while Betrabet finishes his final year at Carleton. Both say they’re committed to building something with lasting value not just at Carleton, but on other campuses in the future.
“This is kind of like my love letter to Carleton,” says Osagie. “It’s a thank you for what this place gave me and now we get to give something back.”
Their advice to other students thinking of starting a business?
“Just start,” says Betrabet.
“The longer you wait, the higher the chance it won’t happen.”
For now, they’re focused on helping students share experiences in person and reminding their peers that sometimes, the best connections happen offline.
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