Startups have been trying to digitize business cards for about as long as smart phone have been in the mainstream. None have really proven successful. The five people behind Spincard think they have cracked the code.
"We're trying to find a better way to connect with people beyond the business card," says Anthony Montalbano, co-founder of
Spincard.
Montalbano and four other local tech entrepreneurs were discussing how cumbersome and difficult it was to remember everyone they ran into at networking events from the pile of business cards spread out on a desk. They knew the software platforms meant to help alleviate this problem also came up short.
Spincard is a mobile app that gives each user a six-character code, or spin. That way users can give a new contact at a networking event the code. The new contact enters in the code to Spincard app and it immediately shows a picture of the user, their contact info and links to their social media outlets. Users can then sort through contacts by flipping through head shots of users. You can watch a video on it
here.
"That allows you to find people by face," Montalbano says. "Then you can flip it over and see all of their information."
The Spincard crew built the app for Apple and Andriod users in less than three weeks at
Grand Circus in downtown Detroit. They launched it earlier this month and are looking to get traction in local startup circles in Detroit, Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids this year.
"Our focus is to concentrate on small niche markets like Detroit and Grand Rapids," Montalbano says. "It only works if it's used by groups of people."
Source: Anthony Montalbano, co-founder of Spincard
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.