May 25, 12.06 PM IST || Pocket News Alert
~Helps find people you've crossed paths with in real life by using hyper-geolocation in real time~
~The app has 17 million users in 40 cities globally; plans to reach 1 million users in India in six months~
Bangalore, May 25, 2016: After creating a huge buzz in 40 cities around the world and taking the online networking to a whole new level, the world’s first meeting app Happn, reaches in India to start a new era of meeting and networking with people. Headquartered in Paris, this app, helps users to connect with people they have crossed paths in real life by using hyper-location in real-time. The app plans to add 1 million Indian users in next six months to its happy and happening list of 17 million users globally. Happn has already raised a funding of over 20 million Euros to steer user growth in international markets.
By using hyper-geolocation in real time, the app shows you a timeline of all the people you have crossed paths with and lets you connect again. Being a GPS-based platform, the app makes it possible to connect with people in a very different way in comparison to other location-based apps in the market and provides a whole bouquet of amazing features. Every time you cross paths with another Happn user in real life, their profile shows up on your timeline. You can check out their profile at any time and see the time and place of your last encounter. If you find someone you like, click on the Heart button. If they like you too, you can start a conversation. Happn gives you the opportunity to meet people that might become your friends or someone special.
The happn concept was imagined by Didier Rappaport, Antony Cohen and Fabien Cohen. The app first launched in February 2014 in Paris. CEO Didier Rappaport says, “Happn is the answer to a universal desire as it gives a second chance to a first encounter and makes it possible to find someone again that you didn’t have the chance to speak to at the right moment. There was a real gap between what people want - to meet each other - and what was really happening, online chatting only. We wanted to bring the meeting experience back into the real world, by enhancing real life interactions and giving people the right tool to help them connect.”
“The name is based on several things: first, the verb ‘to happen’. It symbolizes an action, an event. We wanted to make people meet so we wanted to make it happen. Then there’s ‘app’ and there is ‘happy’ – two words that define the concept of Happn really well,” he explains.
Happn is the only app today that gives you a second chance at a first encounter. One way of using the app is to find the people you have seen before but did not have the chance to approach. Another use is to discover new people; people from your neighborhood, who work in the same area, who take the same transports. They are people you might bump into every day but that you have never noticed because you are always reading a book for example.
The app caught on very quickly in European markets, followed by a major jump in American cities. In 2016, with more than 2 million new users per month, Happn set out on conquering Asian markets while strengthening its presence in its existing markets. Happn currently has 150K users in India and it will focus on establishing the app in the market by increasing user engagement and focusing on local user needs.
About Happn
Launched in February 2014, Happn is the first mobile meeting app to use real-time geolocation to help you discover people you have crossed paths with in real life. Every time you cross paths with another Happn user, his or her profile appears on your app. Currently present in more than 40 major cities around the world, including Paris, London, Berlin, Madrid, Buenos Aires, São Paulo, Hong Kong, Milan and New York City, the app has grown rapidly, with over 17 million users since launch. Happn is available to download for free via the App Store, Play Store and Windows Store.
Visit www.happn.com for more information.
Follow Happn on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. #MakeItHappn
Didier Rappaport CEO and Founder of happn
Didier Rappaport is the CEO and co-founder of Happn, the app that is turning the meeting industry upside down.
After completing his secondary studies in Alsace (East of France) and an Economics degree in Bordeaux, Didier first starts his career in the family textile business. He moves to Paris soon after and creates an international trade business, which leads him to travel all over the world - until he discovers the digital world in the 90s.
Amazed by this new world, Didier changes direction and becomes a web pioneer. Not forgetting where he made his debut, he creates his first B2B online service platform in the 2000s for the international textile trade.
In 2002, Didier creates his second B2B service platform, Sources IT, for the use of Internet professionals.
In 2005, Didier starts a new digital adventure and becomes co-founder and Chief Operations Officer of Dailymotion, the second largest video-sharing website in the world.
In 2008, Didier participates in rebuilding Nomao, a geolocated, personalized social network that tweaks into a search engine.
In 2013, Didier imagines a meeting app with his 2 co-founders Antony and Fabien Cohen, and in 2014, he launches Happn. It’s the first meeting app starting from a real-life experience: it gives you the chance to discover and to find that person that has caught your eye, and to avoid all missed connections.
Two years after its launch, Happn counts 17 million users, in 40 major cities all over the world.