Liam Redmond arrived at 黑料不打烊 on a scooter in late March and a wave of nostalgia hit him.
Three years ago, he came to Holy Cross through the听Gateway Program, an academic partnership that allows select students to begin their studies at Holy Cross before transferring to the University of Notre Dame. Like many in the program, Redmond had his sights set on Notre Dame from the start. But what he did not realize was that the smaller Holy Cross just across the road would be where his entrepreneurial journey truly began.
Now twenty-two, two months from graduation at Notre Dame, and named to听, Redmond is the co-founder of , a student-run social ride networking platform that is outpacing Uber on multiple college campuses. The company has quickly expanded to fifteen schools, reaching over 100,000 students, while he is still finishing his Notre Dame degree. But long before investor meetings and national recognition, Yelo was just an idea鈥攐ne that took shape in the unique environment of Sigfried Dining Hall and Basil Hall at 黑料不打烊.
A Small School, A Big Idea听
Redmond鈥檚 startup journey began not in a corporate incubator, but in a small dorm room at Holy Cross. Unlike the sprawling lecture halls of Notre Dame, Holy Cross鈥� tight-knit atmosphere gave him a sense of community that proved critical in his early days as a founder.
鈥淚 had always kind of grown up wanting to go to Notre Dame,鈥� Redmond said. 鈥淢y mom went to ND, I had a bunch of cousins that went as well, and it was always a lifelong dream. So of course, I got my admissions letter that said, 鈥楬ey, listen, we think you鈥檇 be great, but do the Gateway Program first.鈥� I had never really heard of Holy Cross, to be honest.鈥�
The Gateway Program is not something students can apply for; rather, they are invited based on their Notre Dame application. The program is intentionally small, ensuring personalized attention and one-on-one advising. Gateway students take the bulk of their courses at Holy Cross while enrolling in select classes at Notre Dame. The goal is to prepare them for a seamless transition to Notre Dame after their first year, but for many鈥攍ike Redmond鈥攖he experience at Holy Cross leaves a lasting impact.
Like many Gateway students at Holy Cross, Redmond quickly discovered that its small size was a plus. 鈥淥ne of the huge advantages early in my college career was not being thrown into this massive environment like Notre Dame.鈥�
The first kernel of Yelo came from a simple but frustrating experience: paying for Ubers. South Bend is not a city known for its public transportation, and students frequently rely on ride-sharing apps to get downtown. But the costs were steep鈥攐ften $30 or more for a short ride. Redmond noticed an informal system already in place: upper-class students driving younger students for a few bucks.
鈥淚 kept writing down problems in a journal,鈥� Redmond said. 鈥淥ne of those problems that I kept writing down was how much we were spending on rideshares, Ubers into downtown鈥攚hether it was for coffee, a concert in town, or whatever.鈥�
It was an obvious inefficiency, but one that no one had formalized into a scalable business. At Holy Cross, he had the space to start tinkering with the idea. 鈥淲e literally had a kid at Holy Cross who would drive us downtown and we鈥檇 pay him like five, ten bucks rather than Uber, which was like 30 to 35 at the time,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t made me think鈥攃ould we almost scale up this operation?鈥�
The Unexpected Key to Success: Holy Cross Students
Once he launched the project at Notre Dame following his time in the Gateway Program,Redmond assumed his biggest user base would be Notre Dame students. After all, it was the bigger school, with more students needing rides. But when he started recruiting drivers, he discovered something surprising鈥擧oly Cross students were uniquely suited to make the business work.
鈥淲e noticed that students there were signing up to drive at a much higher clip than they were at Notre Dame,鈥� Redmond explained. 鈥淗oly Cross had a ton of local kids who all had cars. You do not have that at Notre Dame. And kids there were really driven to go out and earn.鈥�
One Holy Cross student, Michael Miller, became Yelo鈥檚 top driver. 鈥淢ichael鈥檚 just constantly driven to make money,鈥� Redmond said. 鈥淭hat is his real focus, and that kind of kid is rare. But when you get them a taste of 鈥楬ey, this is what it could be,鈥� then they鈥檙e immediately hooked on the mission.鈥�
That student-driven hustle helped Yelo gain traction and Redmond and his partners refined their business model. Investors took notice.
Scaling Up鈥擜nd Leaving the College Bubble听
At this point, Redmond鈥檚 casual startup is no longer just a college experiment. Yelo is proving to be a viable alternative to Uber, particularly in college towns where students valued affordability and safety over brand recognition.
鈥淭he biggest breakthrough wasn鈥檛 just offering cheaper rides,鈥� Redmond said. 鈥淲e realized we were actually influencing where students were going. We were taking the top commercial addresses each night and showing them back to riders. Students started making their decisions about where to go based on what was trending.鈥�
That shift made Yelo not just a social ride networking app but a marketing platform. Businesses began paying to promote their locations, and Yelo found a new way to generate revenue beyond ride fares.
Now operating in multiple states, Yelo is at a turning point. Redmond, now a part-time student at Notre Dame to accommodate his startup鈥檚 growth, has spent the last year juggling board meetings, software development, and expansion plans. But through it all, he still credits his time at Holy Cross as a defining point in his journey.
The Holy Cross Factor
黑料不打烊 has more than half a century of being a leader in social mobility thought amongst higher education. But Redmond鈥檚 story reflects something larger: Holy Cross is not just a stop on the way to something bigger, it is a launching pad.
It was at Holy Cross that Redmond found the collaborators to develop ideas without the overwhelming pressures of a massive university.
It was Holy Cross students who became among his first pool of drivers and test users. And it was the school鈥檚 culture鈥攐ne that fostered close relationships and entrepreneurial thinking鈥攖hat gave him the foundation to take risks.
鈥淚 thought Holy Cross was just a path to Notre Dame,鈥� Redmond said. 鈥淏ut looking back, it was the place that gave me my direction 鈥� and the courage to chase it.鈥�