Interview with Alfonso Adduci, founder of friendness
October 4, 2021
Interview with Alfonso Adduci, founder of friendness, the new platform for finding friends nearby.
Online dating is a well-established method among the younger generation for finding a “soulmate” or someone to flirt with. But apart from the matching and swiping on which many dating apps are based on, a new reality is taking place: in this article, we’re going to uncover it with the help of friendness founder Alfonso Adduci! friendness is similar to a dating app, with the main difference being that you’ll search for Friendship instead of Love by using it. A simple and intuitive interface will guide users through meetings with small groups of people who are looking forward to sharing new experiences together.
friendness is the ideal app for people who find themselves in a new city and just want to hang out with a group of friends and go eat somewhere, have a drink or go to an event. You can make friends fast and safely with friendness, since every user’s identity is verified. No risks or blind dates involved, only lots of fun!
Hi Alfonso, nice to meet you, and thank you for your time. Let’s start right away: what is friendness, and what does it offer?
friendness is the app that allows you to meet up with a random group of friends near you. Whether you just moved to a new city, you’re traveling alone or you’re just bored, the goal here is to make new friends. Just enter some info about yourself and your location on the app, and see what happens! You’re going to be part of a group of three, four or up to five random people of the same age as you that feel like eating out, having a drink or a coffee.
How and when was the idea of friendness born?
Back when I was in university, in 2009, I experienced moving to a new city without having anyone to lean on there. Many people are faced with this same situation in life, and, unfortunately, there’s no social ritual that makes you meet new friends, solving the issue. That’s when the idea of friendness came to me, an app that could fill in this gap. We wanted to create the best conditions to meet new people, so we came up with the concept of setting up small groups of friends with whom you can spend some time.
How long did it take for the project to take form?
Prototype development lasted around 6 to 8 months. Then, the final version was ready 2 years later. But we still have a long way to go when it comes to developing the functionality aspect.
How do you verify the users’ identity?
We only rely on verified identity providers: Google, Facebook, Apple, or we base the authentication on the phone number via SMS.
Who’s your target audience, and how’s the market responding so far?
We are targeted toward anyone who wishes to hang out with new people. This can be beneficial for those who already have lots of friends, too. Meeting up with someone new with no ulterior motive than to become friends may turn into a nice habit. The idea is being perceived very well, and we enjoyed a major boost in popularity at launch when the press noticed the app and made it publicly known.
How did you launch the project? Did you resort to crowdfunding?
We initially launched it on social media: we had a bit of a hard time at first, but eventually we started getting more recognition. This might have been due to the originality of the idea. We haven’t relied on external financing, but the possibility of doing so in the future is not to be excluded.
Fun fact: are you using friendness yourselves?
For sure! As a startupper, you don’t have much free time on your hands, but the app allows me to make plans with others in no time every once in a while. I combined business with pleasure, and this way I could also get some feedback to improve. Luck plays a big part in this, but I was able to meet very interesting people, some of whom I began a true friendship with.
Credits:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=it.friendness.app
https://apps.apple.com/app/id1269062131
