Princeton University Accelerator-Backed Social Network "Friendsy" Launches Nationwide
Mar 02, 2015, 06:00 ET
PRINCETON, N.J., March 2, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- "I think I just met my soulmate through Friendsy!!! I wish you all similar success," wrote an undergraduate at Macalester College.
Friendsy is a new social network for only college students that registered 25,000 users and 200,000 mutual matches in tests on 40 campuses. Today Friendsy is launching nationwide, simultaneously establishing networks at more than 1,600 colleges and universities.
Friendsy is the brainchild of Princeton seniors Michael Pinsky and Vaidhy Murti, who feel Facebook, Tinder, and Yik Yak don't sufficiently help students branch out of their limited social circles.
"College students get stuck," Pinsky said. "They want to branch out, but it can be surprisingly difficult to meet new people on campus."
Through the app, users can chat anonymously, compliment each other, and make friendly and romantic matches when feelings are mutual. But Friendsy's main differentiator from Facebook, Tinder, and Yik Yak is its exclusive, private network comprised of only verified college students with .edu email addresses, going back to the roots of what first made Facebook viral.
University of Michigan sophomore Lindsey Sholes told USA TODAY, "I definitely feel like Friendsy is a little safer because it is more like a peer group than Tinder."
To date, Friendsy has raised a total of more than $200,000 from sources including Princeton University and angel investors in New York City to prepare for today's nationwide launch.
"As an interested venture capitalist put it, we're trying to do to Tinder what Facebook did to Myspace," Murti said. "Make it exclusive and clean."
Website: www.friendsyapp.com
Press kit available on website.
[email protected]
Contact: Michael Pinsky (917-880-5871), [email protected]
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SOURCE Friendsy, Inc