Campus lost & found

Lost and found
built for
universities.

Est. 2026  ·  Salt Lake City, UT

Most campuses are still running lost and found on a cardboard box and a shared spreadsheet. Laika replaces it — staff log items in seconds, students find their things online, and every pickup is verified.

30s
Average time for staff
to log a found item
The problem
4.5M
Items lost on U.S. university campuses every year
<25%
Are ever returned to their owner
3+ hrs
Staff waste per week on manual tracking and phone tag
The current
solution
The standard approach: a cardboard box behind the front desk and a spreadsheet nobody updates. In 2026, universities run billion-dollar research programs, deploy AI-assisted coursework, and process thousands of students a day — and they're managing lost property with a Post-it note. It's not a resources problem. It's the absence of a system that was ever designed to work.
Our mission
Every campus loses things. Most have no real system for getting them back. Laika fixes that — built specifically for how universities actually work.
How it works
three steps
01
Staff log found items
in 30 seconds
Photo goes in. AI generates a name, description, and value classification automatically. Staff confirm, add a location, and save. Most items are logged in under half a minute — no training required.
02
Students search and
describe their item
Students visit the portal, describe what they lost in plain language, and browse the live inventory. High-value items stay blurred until the student can describe it from memory — ownership is confirmed before anything is revealed.
03
Ownership verified
before pickup
Staff review the submitted claim, confirm the description matches, and hand over the item in person with ID verification. A full audit trail runs from the moment an item is logged to the moment it leaves the desk.
What we provide
five services
01
Staff dashboard
A simple web platform for front-desk staff to log found items with a photo, AI-generated description, and location. No training needed — most staff are logging items within minutes of getting access.
02
Student search & claims
Students describe what they lost in plain language and search the live inventory. High-value items stay blurred until a student can verify ownership — keeping the process honest without adding friction for staff.
03
SMS alerts
Students register what they lost. The moment a matching item gets logged, they get a text. No need to keep checking back — the system does the follow-up automatically.
04
Verified pickup
Every claim requires student ID and a secure PIN before anything gets handed over. A full audit trail is kept from the moment an item is logged to the moment it's returned.
05
Portal integration
Laika works as a standalone platform or integrates into your existing campus portal. Built to slot into whatever your university already has — not replace it.
Live today
University of Utah
Active deployment
Compliance
Built to meet
university standards.

Universities have real legal obligations when it comes to the software they deploy. Laika is built to meet those standards from day one — ADA, FERPA, HECVAT, and more.

ADA / WCAG 2.1 AA FERPA HECVAT SOC 2 Infrastructure
View compliance details →
Get in touch
Ready to bring
Laika
to your campus?

We're working with universities now. Reach out to schedule a demo or ask questions — we'll get back to you the same day.

Contact us → ebunting07@gmail.com