By SUSAN LAHEY
Reporter with Silicon Hills News
CanWe Studios just rolled out its first app, CanWeNetwork, in iTunes and Google Play. The app uses geolocation, LinkedIn and other data to help people with mutual interests find one another at networking events or conferences…or possibly just walking down the street.
According to co-founder Greg Braswell, the app’s “secret sauce” is offering “models that we bring to a not-so-obvious match,” such as business skills, social skills and personal skills. “It involves taxonomy, ontology, it grades hundreds, if not thousands of vector points and comes up with the potential commonalities or interests of two individuals. LinkedIn is a starting point.”
“If the person is analytical, here are other skills and social skills that the person may have. It helps you discover opportunities,” Braswell said.
So the app can help a person find someone in a similar industry, or it can find a match based on other attributes or needs that may lead to a collaboration between diverse individuals. Although the ability to match two people currently requires both to have the app, in coming weeks, that will change, Braswell said. At present, the app will allow you to learn more about people at an event and build files on them so you can set an appointment with them later.
CanWe started with a dating app idea, Braswell said, but during beta testing in San Marcos, Austin, Boston, Chicago and a few other places, realized that a pivot might be wise. There were connectivity issues in some bars, for example. Plus they decided the app would be far more valuable in the B2B and B2C space.
In March, private investors, including the company’s president Dan Kloiber, invested $1.5 million to help get the app launched.
The app is free for consumers, who, in the future, will be able to get notifications of possible matches being someone living, say in Austin, and someone visiting. The app will inform the two smartphone holders of the proximity of the other and suggest a meeting place.
The company plans to monetize the app via the event and conference space, allowing people attending the event to schedule meetings before or after speakers, allowing individuals to connect with vendors and the like.
CanWe also intends to market to enterprises to create more social connections among employees, of, say IBM either locally or when many members travel to a conference.
“A lot of companies are trying to figure out better ways to add more social connections among employees because employee retention becomes much higher,” Braswell said. “Also there might be skill sets that employees have that they’re not using in their roles. For example, they might be in finance but on the side they love to code in PHP and the company has a project that can marry these two skills.”
In the future, CanWe hopes to release the app on platforms other than iTunes and Google Play.
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