How Makan Started

We are currently graduate students at Columbia University, and all started studying at Columbia University in 2022. We are all international students, so we have a financial projection for a tech startup that saves it. That simple prompt sparked a bigger question in our minds.

"How can we leverage AI to solve everyday problems?"

We began listing all the daily challenges we encountered, and one thing we both struggled with was finding a great place to eat. There are a few common ways people try to solve this:

• Scrolling through food review videos on social media, which are often paid promotions and lack authenticity.
• Getting overwhelmed by the sheer volume of content and ending up not going anywhere.
• Asking friends for recommendations, but not wanting to bother them too often.

This got us thinking – why not build a social platform focused on restaurant discovery where people can share authentic experiences and get personalized recommendations?

That's why we created Makan – an AI-powered social media platform that helps you decide where to eat next. We believe dining out should be a personalized and enjoyable experience for everyone.

But Makan isn't just another food startup. 🇮🇩 We're on a mission to become the first Indonesian-born social media company that is widely used and truly impactful.🇮🇩