Spork's mobile app LeaseCrunch begins to gain traction

A couple of tech entrepreneurs in Ann Arbor have teamed up to create Spork, a mobile app start-up who's first offering is starting to gain traction.

Spork release LeaseCrunch about a year ago with little fanfare and even less marketing. The mileage-monitoring app for leased cars has enjoyed a slowly growing following since. It has about 400 users and is still being actively bought in the iTunes store. Jordan Brown and Ross Johnson, Eastern Michigan University grads and Spork's co-founders, plan to ramp up the visibility through viral marketing this year.

"It has done a lot better than I expected without advertising," Brown says. "People are just sort of stumbling upon it."

LeaseCrunch helps drivers keep track of their leased vehicle's mileage to prevent overage charges. Through a few simple setup questions and periodic odometer mileage updates, the application calculates where the user stands in the life of their lease and projects where they will be when it's time to turn the vehicle in.

"I wanted something with a graphical representation and projections instead of just a do-it-yourself spreadsheet thing," Brown says.

Source: Jordan Brown, co-founder of Spork
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.