Many group activities—like sharing a taxi, dining out, or planning a trip—often result in one person covering the cost upfront while others promise to pay later. This leads to forgotten reimbursements, unequal contributions, or awkward conversations about money. The friction can strain relationships, especially when costs are unpredictable or unevenly distributed.

The Idea: Pre-Event Cost Pooling

One way to address this could be through a mobile app that lets friends pool money before an event, ensuring shared expenses are covered fairly from the start. Here’s how it might work:

• Event Setup: A user creates an event (e.g., "Beach Weekend") and invites friends. The app estimates costs and suggests equal contributions—or allows custom splits.
• Shared Fund: Participants add money to a shared pool, which is used to cover expenses in real time (e.g., meals, tickets).
• Auto-Splitting: After the event, leftover funds are refunded proportionally, or the app requests top-ups if spending exceeds the pool.

The app could integrate with payment platforms like Venmo to streamline transfers, and include features like receipt scanning or group voting for disputed expenses.

Why It’s Different

Existing tools like Splitwise or Venmo solve part of the problem but lack proactive pooling:

• Splitwise tracks debts after the fact, relying on manual entry and post-event chasing.
• Venmo handles payments but doesn’t coordinate group expenses.

By pooling funds upfront, this approach could reduce reimbursement delays and disagreements, while deeper payment integrations might make transactions effortless.

Getting Started

A simple version could start with:

1. Basic pooling: Let users create events, invite friends, and collect funds via one payment platform.
2. Expense tracking: Add features to log shared costs and adjust balances dynamically.
3. Scaling up: Partner with services like Uber or DoorDash to auto-import expenses, or offer premium tools for complex splits.

Testing with small groups could reveal whether users prefer pre-pooling over post-event settling, and if the app reduces friction compared to manual methods.