LOS ANGELES, Jan. 26, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- "The rare spark of unity felt when one discovers they share a birthday with a star or a new acquaintance shouldn't be so rare," says Matt Hagger, CEO of Doppels. "Stars align, worlds collide, lightbulbs illuminate." Doppels harnesses this rare experience as a daily occurrence with its shared birthday discovery engine iPhone app, released January 11 in the App Store. After its first week, Doppels acquired 20,000 users and hit #31 in the American App Store rankings in the category of social networking, ranking above major products such as Match.com and as the most popular new social discovery app in its first two weeks following launch.
Social apps often restrict users to finding new connections based solely on physical characteristics and proximity-based matching. Doppels provides an innovative alternative, as it uses birthdate as the unique identifier to unite users based on shared birthdays and a proprietary algorithm, StarMatch. This unprecedented machine-learning algorithm combines astrological science and social data to create authentic and compatible matches.
The app provides instantaneous icebreakers via personalized wishes and gifts. Effortless conversation starters can lead to new potential relationships courtesy of the StarMatch algorithm. Users can create a profile, upload photos, provide personal information and electively display the year of their birth or other information.
Instant gratification gained from using social applications often lack substance and may prevent the development of long-term relationships. Doppels connects the world through birthdays and the love of celebration to create a meaningful social discovery experience in a marketplace flooded with disappointing alternatives.
The Product
So what are "Doppels?" Doppels share one thing in common: their birthdays. The app has two main features, "My Doppels" and "Today's Doppels." "My Doppels" allows users to find people nearby who share the same birthday as them. Users may chat, connect, meet up and celebrate with their Doppels all year around. "Today's Doppels" enables users to find nearby people who are celebrating their birthday today, a daily event defined as "Doppels Day."
Every day of the year, each group of Doppels can communicate in secret from other groups until their birthday or "Doppels Day" comes around. At this point, the group celebrating birthdays are shared with the application's public feed for the entire community to celebrate, filtered by location. Users interested in a person can send birthday wishes or gifts. If accepted, a chat dialogue is initiated. To view detailed information on compatibility, users can access a unique StarMatch. The goal? To transform the way people connect with existing networks, celebrate birthdays and discover new communities—turning all members into birthday stars. Doppels Day seeks to create a global movement with the aim to connect all those celebrating birthdays.
The Company and Founders
Co-Founder and CEO Matt Hagger is an entrepreneur and founder of London's start-up technology incubator E-Man Labs. Matt aligned with Co-Founder Eli Shmerler of Belgium to launch Doppels, as both struggled to celebrate birthdays while on business trips and felt isolated on a day that should be celebratory. Hagger's attendance at South by Southwest Conference during his birthday proved to be an anticlimactic occasion spent away from friends and family. Across the United States, Shmerler was also celebrating his birthday in New York while traveling for business and was frustrated by the inability to connect with locals sharing his special day. Matt and Eli reunited in Europe, driven to create their own solution.
The duo built the robust application before traveling to the United States to find the most suitable location to launch. After touring New York, Austin and Silicon Valley, they landed in Los Angeles. The two felt that the fertile start-up soil—well, sand—of Silicon Beach was the perfect location for Doppels headquarters. Inspired by the Los Angeles community of supportive, open-minded and engaging innovators, Hagger and Shmerler settled in Venice to complete their mission in a city ripe for a revolution in dating and connectedness.
With a launch event slated for early 2016 in Hollywood, Doppels will reinvent the way people connect in Los Angeles and beyond.
"We're extraordinarily excited to launch Doppels. We believe that Doppels will spark a movement that builds deeper and more meaningful relationships, in a world where people seek instant gratification," says CEO Matt Hagger. "Everybody has a birthday, so naturally everyone has Doppels. Our Doppels day feature gives the entire community a chance to discover how they connect to people born that day. Our algorithms will ensure that every successful connection we match breeds unique insight between two people."
About Doppels
Doppels seeks to reinvent birthdays as shared celebrations and global events. Doppels—those who share the same birthday—can connect with one another 365 days a year based on their location, but on their birthday or "Doppels Day," the Doppels are presented to the entire community, enabling themselves to be a star, receiving wishes and gifts from other users, born the other 364 days of the year.
Using sophisticated matching and compatibility algorithms, Doppels is on a mission to spark a revolution in connectedness.
To request an interview or product demonstration with Doppels CEO and Co-Founder, Matt Hagger, please email or call +1 (415) 215 7867. To receive a press kit or coordinate interviews outside of Los Angeles, please contact our press team via [email protected].
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SOURCE Doppels
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