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Back to the Localverse

Back to the Localverse
Photo: © Siegfried & ROI AG

Berlin founders Eva Balmaks and Jasmin Oestreich have big plans: With their Winkt app, they want to strengthen local communities and revitalize the neighborhood. But aren't there already enough social community platforms in this world? In an interview with us, they explain why their app is needed.  
 

INTERVIEW  Boris Messing

 

CCB Magazine:Hello Eva and Jasmin. You founded Winkt, a neighborhood app to connect and strengthen local communities. How and when did you come up with the idea to found your company?

Eva Balmaks:The whole thing started during Corona. Contacts were limited, I was at home a lot like everyone else. Once when I was sitting comfortably in the courtyard with people from the neighborhood, an idea suddenly came to me. I thought, it's so nice to sit with all these people here, I wish I could let more people from the neighborhood know that we are here right now and everyone is welcome. But how could I have done that spontaneously? That was the initial spark for Winkt - the idea of giving people in my immediate vicinity information in the here and now, in a very uncomplicated way, about what is happening right now and where. The Facebooks, Twitters and Instagrams of this world were of no help to me. And so I started looking for people who wanted to implement this with me.

Jasmin Oestreich:I had met Eva a little later then at a "Looking for Female Co-Founder" pitch event in Berlin. During that time, I was working as Chief Operational Officer for a startup. I had also worked in the field of funding consulting for startups and therefore had a pretty good overview. Eva's pitch convinced me right away and that's how we came together as founders in February 2021. 

Eva Balmaks: Our app is aimed at people who have an enthusiasm and want to spontaneously share that enthusiasm with others in the area. With Winkt, we want to bring a local ecosystem to life in real time

CCB Magazine:Briefly explained: How does the app work? What features are there?

Jasmin Oestreich:The central feature of the app is an interactive map view where you can see and publish postings. This means, for example, that you can write a short text or post a picture that can be seen by others at a certain place for a certain time. The content is posted on the map with the help of GPS. In addition, one has a profile and can create groups, which then also remain in one place and in which always those can engage who are actually on the spot. The rule is that all people who are in the same place at the same time can exchange information with each other.

CCB Magazine:Does this mean that the posted events you see on the map are only visible to others within a certain radius?

Jasmin Oestreich:Exactly. How large this radius should be can be set in the app. This applies both to content that should be visible to others and to content that I want to see myself.

Eva Balmaks:Let me give you an example. All of us are happy to have like-minded people around us. Maybe we feel like we belong to the creative community, LGBTQs, music lovers or we are active at Fridays for Future. We are currently in the co-working space of the "Impact Hub Berlin" and many community events take place in this place. For example, some of us go jogging together later. So in Winkt I can now write: "We are going jogging. Who is coming? Meet at 5 p.m. at the entrance." Then I still have to think about whether to send the post to everyone in my radius or to the group from Impact Hub. I can also set the post to automatically delete itself at 5:05 p.m., because the joggers will have already started running by then and the information will no longer be relevant.

CCB Magazine:Before the realization of your company, you conducted a user study. What did you find out from it?

Eva Balmaks:We had the chance to survey over 7,000 people across Germany. We wanted to find out from them to what extent they are interested in information from their immediate environment. Our findings: People store at local businesses because there is a personal connection. Because people know each other and can talk in person. Because they come from the same neighborhood. Because they feel like they are part of a favorite customer community. 

Jasmin Oestreich: It needs an app that tells you what's happening around you in the here and now. Winkt puts an interactive map view at the center of the user experience. No matter where you are moving: Winkt shows you what's happening right now in your set radius

CCB Magazine:But your app isn't just aimed at customers and business owners, is it? In other words, is there a specific target group that your app is aimed at?

Eva Balmaks:Our app is aimed at people who have an enthusiasm and want to spontaneously share this enthusiasm with others in the area. This can be the fresh offer in their own café, restaurant or store or relate to sports, culture or creative activities. We address global networks of like-minded people who want to exchange and meet locally within their network.

CCB Magazine:How did you approach the foundation? How did you divide the work between you? And how did you finance your company?

Jasmin Oestreich:Eva and I both studied business administration. I'm responsible for operations, investor relations, finance, legal, tax and currently also sales. Eva is responsible for storytelling, sales, business development, relationship & stakeholder management. In the first year we invested our own money in the startup, then we got money from the Accelerator of the "Berlin Startup School" and found business angels who invested in us and our idea.

CCB Magazine:It feels like there's an app for everything, and it's hard to find your way around the sea of apps. The idea of Winkt reminds me of Nebenan.de. Why do we need another social community platform? Aren't there enough already?

Jasmin Oestreich:Yes, it still needs an app because there is no app yet that tells you what is happening around you in the here and now. And that makes Winkt. With Nebenan.de, the communication reach is tied to zip code and is static not dynamic. Winkt puts its interactive map view at the center of the user experience. It doesn't matter where you are: Winkt shows you what is currently happening in your set radius.  

CCB Magazine:How can artists and creative professionals benefit from the app?

Eva Balmaks:Artists who organize events, exhibitions, concerts, book readings, etc., and are open to people from the immediate neighborhood, can use Winkt to draw attention to themselves. For example, invite people to a spontaneous jam session or advertise a theater performance somewhere in an artist's basement. This artistic and creative activity, which might remain hidden in a side street somewhere, can be made visible to others by a 'digital winkt' in the app. This way, people can easily and quickly inform and inspire each other. Co-working spaces, studios, etc. can also be displayed on the map.

Jasmin Oestreich: 98.1 percent of European venture capital is invested in male-led startups. This is a major reason why women start up less, because they have fewer opportunities, less access to capital, fewer contacts and are less trusted

CCB Magazine:When did the app become available and how many are already using it?

Jasmin Oestreich:The app has been available in the App and Play stores since September 2021 and is used by over 3000 users. Most of them come from Berlin.

CCB Magazine:You also refer to the app as Localverse. Is that just a buzzword or is there also the idea of expanding the app into a virtual space?

Eva Balmaks:This is not a mere buzzword, but a mental countermovement to what we know as the Metaverse. The Metaverse is a digital space in which we consciously decouple ourselves from reality or distort this reality through the use of technology. In contrast, the Localverse is directly tied to the reality of a concrete place and its people. The Localverse will be a digital space that is not necessarily filtered by algorithms and artificial intelligence or enriched by augmented reality. It will be a digital space designed and filtered by the real, physical proximity of people to one another. Designers also call this "human-centered." This means: I and my location will be the center of design and technology. My presence and proximity to the people and experiences that surround me at my location will be the measure of all things. The bottom line is to make it possible for us humans to experience a local ecosystem in real time.

Eva Balmaks: Winkt's strategy is to offer interfaces with other location-based service providers and content creators and to integrate third-party information into the Winkt map view. This is how we want to build step by step or interface by interface on a Localverse

CCB Magazine:According to the German Startup Monitor, only 20.3 percent of all founders in 2022 were female. How come? Why are women less likely to found a company? 

Jasmin Oestreich:Where shall I start!? We all know the stereotype of the "old white man", whose structurally consolidated, privileged position has developed over many centuries and is very persistent. 98.1 percent of European venture capital is invested in male-led startups. This is a major reason why women start up less, because they have fewer opportunities, less access to capital, fewer contacts and are less trusted.

Eva Balmaks:Women and men think differently, communicate differently and solve problems differently. The remaining 1.9 percent venture capital that flows into female founders is next to nothing. The difference becomes even more pronounced in times of crisis. That's when people avoid risk by investing in what they already know and are familiar with. In this sense, we are fighting against the odds with our startup.  

CCB Magazine:What is your vision, where is your the journey going?

Eva Balmaks:Today's social media world is exhausting us more and more because the connection to the real neighborhood and the real environment is missing. Winkt can change that and enable more local encounters again. The strategy of Winkt is to offer interfaces with other location-based service providers and content creators and to integrate third-party information into the Winkt map view. So we want to build step by step or interface by interface on a Localverse.

Category: Innovation & Vision

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