A new app called Roshi, after the Japanese word for “teacher” or “master,” started because of baseball.

The idea was formed for University of North Carolina Wilmington business school graduate Nico Mancuso, co-founder of Roshi with another UNCW alumni, Austin Bates, because Mancuso was an accomplished baseball player during high school.

“Austin and I were roommates living on Wrightsville Beach, and I needed to make some money, but I wanted to be fairly flexible and stay on the beach,” Mancuso said. “So I started making my own website that would basically showcase my accolades from high school.”

He had given kids baseball lessons before, and he planned to blast out the link to his website on Facebook or other social media platforms to let parents know he was open for business.

“As I was building the website, I thought, ‘Why isn't there something out there like this already that I just go sign up for?’” Mancuso said. “So I started looking around for it but couldn't find anything like it.”

Roshi, which launches Tuesday, is an app that connects university students as instructors to parents who need their expertise. Roshi and its platform aim to simplify the process of finding personalized instruction and scheduling, according to a news release.

“All instructors are exclusively university students, making them relatable role models for children and young learners,” the release stated. “With a wide range of subjects, including academics, sports, music and languages, this peer-to-peer approach fosters a personal connection that enhances the quality of instruction and engagement.”

Those who want to offer teaching services must have a verifiable UNCW student email address, and Bates and Mancuso have conversations with each student who signs up to offer instruction, Mancuso said.

While Huntersville-headquartered Roshi is currently self-funded, Mancuso and Bates can see possible pitches to investors in the future, which they hope would also include expanding Roshi to other North Carolina colleges. Right now, they’re focused on rolling out the app at UNCW.

“We love the area. We think the community is great,” said Bates, now a New York City resident who graduated from UNCW in 2016 with a business degree. “You have a ton of families; you have an excellent student base.”

Roshi’s first student ambassador, Mary Ferrito, is a guard on the UNCW Seahawks basketball team. The NCAA board voted in 2019 to allow college athletes to profit from their names, images and likenesses.

"As a Division 1 athlete, basketball and school are my full-time job. And while I am extremely grateful for what money I do receive as an athlete, I am always looking for additional income sources, which can be tricky as my schedule has very little flexibility," Ferrito said in an email Monday. "I’ve trained younger players since high school, and not only is it a great side hustle that allows me to dictate my own hours, it’s super important to me to give back to the sport and empower younger players as a role model to them." 

Before learning about Roshi, she said, she had to rely on word-of-mouth and sometimes her social media pages to market herself.

"But it was difficult to reach parents of young athletes. Roshi has been a game-changer as it gives me a platform to market myself directly to the community of parents looking for trainers for their kids," Ferrito said. "The scheduling and payment aspects of the app are both super convenient too and allow me to just focus on the session and teaching the skills. I also really appreciate that any university student can use Roshi to tutor, teach music, art, etc., as they may not have time for a regular job due to being a student. All in all, I thought it was a brilliant business idea and absolutely wanted to be an ambassador for Austin and Nico while also building my own relationships with athletes in the Wilmington community." 

While several of those who make up Roshi’s student base are student-athletes, the roster also includes a mix of expertise, from dance to education. 

“Roshi is one of the more innovative startups I’ve seen emerge in our community,” stated Steve Griffin, president at Insurance People and a UNCW Board of Trustees member, in the Roshi release. “Two UNCW alumni solving a problem they experienced when they were students to help future generations is a testament to the positive impact Wilmington made on them.”

According to the release, Roshi uses Stripe for secure payment processing and can be downloaded from the App Store.