Do you remember the last time you bought a vacuum from a door-to-door salesman? Right, neither do we. After campaigning for Philadelphia politicians, Andre Del Valle, ’14, determined that campaign strategies, such as door knocking and phone calls, are just as antiquated and ineffective.

Enter NutShell Politics—a new mobile app Del Valle designed that allows users to view the profiles of all candidates for local races in the palm of their hand.

Del Valle worked on the campaign for Tomas Sanchez, who lost the election for the 197th state House seat in 2014. When evaluating why the campaign didn’t work, he found that old techniques were a waste of time and money. So he ushered political campaigning into the 21st century.

“We have to reach young voters better,” he said. “People don’t know enough about the candidates. They have to go through websites and Facebook pages, which aren’t centralized.”

The solution had to be easily accessible with all the candidates’ information in one place. Because most people are on their phones so often, Del Valle said an app just made sense.

NutShell Politics provides users with each candidate’s bio, platforms, news, contact information, social media accounts, and donation opportunities. The free app currently profiles candidates for Philadelphia races, but Del Valle plans to expand to neighboring states and hopes the app is nationwide by the 2016 presidential election.

“People just don’t have time to search for this information,” he said. “I wanted to make this as easy as possible, as simple as possible, and as clean as possible. I get it, politics isn’t everyone’s thing—but it is mine.”

Despite very little promotion, the app has already gained a lot of attention. Although some candidates are hesitant to try something new, many see its value. Whether they choose to participate or not, every candidate for every race is profiled with at least their bio. For a charge, they can add the remaining information. During this first election, Del Valle personally reached out to 200 candidates in the Philadelphia area.

“One person running for judge held an event that attracted a lot of young people,” Del Valle said. “She asked what brought them there, and they said they saw tweets about the event on NutShell. There’s also been a spike in young voters donating to campaigns.”

As his business ramps up, Del Valle has no shortage of help. “People are contacting me who would love to be a part of this. We’re all excited and passionate about this.”

Del Valle, who double majored in political science and Spanish at La Salle, ultimately hopes to earn his law degree. But he admits a career in politics isn’t out of the question. “You can’t put all your eggs in one basket, as my dad always said. …I grew up here in Philly, I’ve worked politics in Philly, and I know how politics work.”