Sup – a new app that helps millennials see their friends more – has launched with USD1.1 million in seed funding from JamJar.
And Sup is the first company to be enrolled in the Tech Business Awards launched by London Chartered Accountants Blick Rothenberg LLP, which will see 10 selected young tech companies being given tailored financial and tax advice and commercial guidance from senior partners at the firm and then judged on their business ability.
Sup is a new venture from ex-Google and GetTaxi marketer Rich Pleeth, ForeverBeta creative agency Founder Robin Gadsby and Managing Partner of ForeverBeta Al Fayolle.
It is a social discovery app that brings people together by alerting them when friends are nearby. It works by allowing users to see their friends on a radar rather than a map. By not showing an individual’s exact location it removes the ability to track people. Sup differs in this respect from Find my Friends, Google’s Latitude and Connect, where users have to show their precise location and which has put a lot of potential users off. No one wants to be tracked or questioned as to why they were in a specific place.
“When people come together, magic happens and with Sup, you can use an app whilst not being tracked,” says Founder, Rich Pleeth. “If you’re bored at lunch, after work or in a new city, you don’t want to broadcast your exact location to the world, but you’re happy to share that you’re in a particular radius with friends that are also in that radius. Instead of messaging friends, asking them if they’re around for a drink, you can see on the radar who is nearby and actually meet people more.”
Sup has been designed to alert users when friends are within a selected perimeter that ranges from 20 yards/metres to 2000 yards/metres. Users can then send a Sup, Voice Sup or text and meet up with friends offline.
Nilesh Shah, Senior Tax Partner at Blick Rothenberg, says: “The idea behind Sup is exciting as well as promising. We are pleased to welcome them to our Tech Business Programme and look forward to working with them during the next 12 months.
“We will use our considerable experience of dealing with tech companies to mentor the founders on the disciplines of running and growing a business. As well as helping them put in place the right financial and tax infrastructures as the business grows.”
Towards the end of the Tech Business Programme, Sup’s achievements will be judged at the Tech Business Awards by representatives from Blick Rothenberg, The Investors Chronicle, Tech City News and Channel 4 News.
