Unfortunately, when something is in fashion, everyone jumps onto the bandwagon. There are always some interesting ‘pearls’ to be found though – one of which is Whoozer! (Update – February 2023: The startup seems to be no longer in business under this website and we therefore deactivated the link). But what’s so revolutionary about yet another SoLoMo application?
Whoozer serves several concrete purposes: It lets users know when one of their friends is nearby; it’s a relatively safe way to meet new people; and it helps people find events happening nearby in real-time.
What does this mean more precisely? No more of this: “What? You were at rue Saint-Anne (renowned for Japanese food in Paris) last night too? We should have met up!” Furthermore, connecting Whoozer to a Facebook account is also a great way to meet people. Whoozer shows you the people nearby who have made themselves visible to others and can also reveal whether you know people in common. Lastly, Whoozer is amazing for travel; users instantly know the fun things happening nearby in cities that they’re not necessarily familiar with.
It’s also safe. Users are only visible to other individuals who have the application, and choose the radius within which they wish to see others and be seen. For example, you can choose to see people within a radius of 1 kilometer around you and let people within that 1 kilometer see you as well. Of course you can also block and report people. Whoozer puts a premium on user security.
It’s versatile and full of surprises. The founders have been working and growing like crazy, going live in just 6 months and are already working on some of the many projects that will make Whoozer even more useful.
How did they do it? They have two pieces of advice for entrepreneurs:
- Focus on development from the very beginning: This isn’t to say you shouldn’t work on your business plan as well, but the development will take a lot of work and time so don’t wait to get started!
- Motivation, motivation, motivation! You have to find people who work well together and can motivate each other. You’re not going to have much time to dedicate to motivating your employees, so make it easier on yourself and be careful with recruitment.
PS: Whoozer applied for the April 2012 edition of Start in Paris. You can support them by voting here until Thursday March 5.
Speaking of events, do you have your ticket yet for the upcoming EU-Startups Summit?
[…] more exposure and that it would be redundant to post it twice, so instead I’m giving you a link […]
A very nice app you should try it asap 😉
I could not agree more!!!
I’m using it since a while now and it works!!! it’s a fun way to meet up friends and invite new people to join u for a drink! great app