Snaapiq, a local app making a game out of snapping selfies, is coming out of beta after soft launching in January. The company, which just won the Techie's Pick for Social Media at
D.C. Tech Day, is also in the middle of raising funds for a seed round via convertible note. Snaapiq cofounders Jacob Perler and Ryo Hang are also looking to hire their first full-time employee.
For those unfamiliar with the app, users download Snaapiq and take pictures in response to prompts like "Best Football Pic" and "Finger Pinch Fun" and upload them to the platform, where they are automatically entered into a contest. Pic snappers can win prizes, such as gift cards for Amazon and Target. The app also offers brand-sponsored campaigns, like the "Take Your Best World Cup Selfie" that ran this summer. For that contest, Soccerpro.com provided a grand prize winner with $500. Users also earn "snaapcoins," in-app currency, by posting and rating pictures, sharing them on social media and inviting friends to the platform. They can use this currency to bid, auction-style, on rewards like coupons.
"We're converting pictures into real rewards," says Perler.
Snaapiq, which is free for users and available on iOS and in beta on Android, has been downloaded more than 20,000 times. Perler says more than 80,000 pictures have been uploaded so far, and a dozen small and medium brands have signed on to run campaigns on the app. "We're starting to work with local universities," he says. Developing relationships with universities and sports teams are pretty high on Perler's to-do list.
Perler and Hang, who work on Snaapiq out of WeWork Chinatown, are a D.C. Tech matchmaking success story. The two met through
CoFoundersLab (now part of OneVest) nearly a year ago after spending time in strategy consulting (Perler) and software engineering (Hang). The pair has worked with a team of 10 interns and contractors to bring Snaapiq to life but would like to bring on a
senior Android developer full-time at this point.