New innovators: YapMe

"Adding sound to a photo makes it a sensory experience and takes you right into the moment. It gives 'beige' a bit of colour and the image is elevated to an atmospheric moment that can be shared," explains Charles Alix, co-founder of technology start-up, YapMe.

Alix is expecting consumers to embrace the YapMe app because it is a fast new way to share pictures and their soundtrack without the hassle of making a video.

“Right now there is no easy way to share a moment with both sound and visuals other than video,” he says. “Videos are more difficult to take than a photo and some people find them intimidating to be in. They also have to be scripted or to tell a story. Otherwise the result may not be very good and it won’t be sent to a wider audience.

“ YapMe fills the gap for a hybrid format that shares beautiful images and the atmosphere of the moment by adding sound.”

Alix, who is originally from France, came to Ireland eight years ago. He worked for both Facebook and Twitter before giving up the day job in 2013 to develop an idea for a business of his own.

“I had helped a lot of start-ups to launch their brand on social media and decided that I would like to do something like this for myself. However, it is very difficult to have the time and space to think when you are in employment and very busy,” he says.

Alix subsequently took three months off to go sailing and let his mind freewheel. The idea for YapMe came to him during this time.

Alix's partner in the business, Alexandre Passant, is no stranger to technology start-ups.

He is the brains behind the internet-based music search- and-discovery company Seevl, and has more than 15 years’ experience in web-based technologies.

The partners launched the first version of YapMe at the end of January and the full version will go live in March.

Alix and Passant have recently completed the Launchpad programme for high potential start-ups run by the National Digital Research Centre (NDRC).

Alix estimates development costs to date at around €40,000 which has come from personal resources and NDRC support.

The company would now like to raise an initial €250,000 to fund further development and to hire its first employees.

YapMe, which will be launched in both the US and UK in a few months’ time, is free for private users and will make its money through advertising and premium features.

Alix says that while there are plenty of photo-related apps already on the market, there is only a handful that mix photos and sound and none that operate on multiple platforms.

“YapMe brings the missing element by adding social media connectivity and sharing with full privacy control,” he says.

“Our brand and platform are unique and offer a new online advertising format between print and radio. This format is also the perfect addition to a Facebook page post ad campaign or to a promoted tweet campaign. Mobile advertising to date has been predictable. It can target a user by his or her interests but its presentation has failed to introduce new and engaging ways of connecting with users.

We see strong B2B [business to business] opportunities for YapMe in the music industry, in sports and tourism and in any industry that wants to share an atmosphere and convey an emotion. We are going to implement an external mobile ad platform first and will launch our native ads in six months’ time.”

Alix acknowledges that YapMe is an idea that could be copied.

However, he says his company has a head start of just over a year on any potential competitor and that it intends to make the most of its first-mover advantage.

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