Trevor Hickey believes crowdfunding can solve what is becoming a huge problem for young adults -- student debt.

Hickey is on the verge of launching FundUni, a St. John's -based startup that aims to help students raise money online for their tuition, and let people with money feel they contributed to the future of a young person.

"We want to tackle student debt and we want to do it in a unique way, by connecting students with their communities," said Hickey sitting in a coffee house in St. John's on Wednesday.

Hickey is a graduate of Memorial University of Newfoundland, and his own experience has taught him how much of a burden student debt can be. He's long been interested in startups, and decided about six or seven months ago to start a company that will help students fund their tuition.

FundUni allows students to hold campaigns online that will allow people contribute to their tuition. Similar to other crowdfunding sites, students post a target that that  they want to raise to cover their tuition costs along with a video or written description of their story. The idea is to make people understand why they should help in the funding campaign. They also post a list of rewards that funders will get if they make a donation. These can range from help shoveling their driveway to a piece of artwork to a service the student is training for.

FundUni differs from a lot of other crowdfunding sites in that the students do not have to hit their targets to receive the total funds committed. Hickey said some sites make participants hit their targets as an incentive to work on their campaigns, but he believes students faced with mounting debt already are incentivized enough to raise money.

Hickey now has a test site and is using it to crowdfund for his business. He's selling cupcakes and postcards rather than equity in the company, so it is not a classic crowdfunding operation. His target is $11,300 and so far he's raised about $1800.

He is now trying to line up about five to 10 students in St. John's to do trial campaigns. He's looking for young people with a compelling story, and he wants to work with them throughout their campaigns to make sure as many of them as possible are successful. He expects those that show the most success will be those with the most compelling stories, such as young people who have overcome obstacles to gain an education.

His target is to have students from across Canada using the site within one year of the full-service launch. He hopes to travel across the country in the autumn, spreading word on campuses about the program.

Hickey will soon beging to court investors who might be interested in backing the project. His main operational goal in the near term is to find a Chief Technology Officer.