Plain Sight, a social media app geared toward in-person networking, has launched a funding campaign on Republic, a robust system for private investing in pre-seed to pre-IPO companies.
Benzinga chatted with Plain Sight CEO and founder James Chapman about the development.
About: Born and raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Chapman moved to Detroit five years ago to work for Dan Gilbert’s Family of Companies on entrepreneurship and ecosystem building.
Out of his work at the FOC came the Rocket Mortgage Detroit Demo Day, a pitch competition where entrepreneurs from various fields compete for funding.
“I did that for a number of years and then, probably around the second or third year, I told Dan I was getting the itch to start my own thing and solve a problem I couldn’t stop thinking about.”
While in Chattanooga, Chapman ran a co-working space, enabling people to connect outside of their traditional work and living spaces. Chapman said he began receiving questions regarding real-time, in-person networking and couldn’t find a solution.
“Plain Sight is a mobile platform for you to build your network with like-minded people, in virtual or physical spaces,” Chapman said. “We launched this five months before the start of the global pandemic, for in-person networking, so, as you can imagine, we’ve seen a lot of ups and downs.”
In repositioning, Plain Sight partnered up with companies like Delta Airlines Inc DAL, allowing travelers to gather, network and create at Delta Sky Lounges.
“We ended up securing a partnership with Delta for us to go into to any of the lounges once a month, for a week at a time, and activate that lounge for the members to be able to check in and make connections with one another.”
Shortly thereafter, Plain Sight enabled users to make virtual connections, helping the company grow through the pandemic.
How It Works: Users submit their networking spaces, like coffee shops, to Plain Sight for public listing approval.
“All spaces have to be approved by the Plain Sight team, but anybody could submit to list a space,” Chapman said. “The Plain Sight team reviews, and if it is a good fit, we’ll list it. If not, we’ll let you know why. After that, anybody can check into that space.”
To check in, Plain Sight’s technology generates geofences surrounding networking spaces. Any persons within that geofence have the ability to check-in and engage with others within that space.
“If somebody is looking to get checked in, we send you a curated notification saying that this type of person has checked in with you, that you’re looking for. We call it taking the work out of networking, and allow you to have some leads based on the things you’ve told us through your profile.”
Since last July, 150 spaces have listed on the Plain Sight platform. The company expects those numbers to grow this year.
Recent Events: Plain Sight was featured by Apple Inc AAPL as the App Store App of the Day.
"That was a huge win for our team and really shows our resilience to go from a business that should have been closed as soon as the pandemic started, to being able to bounce back, make a lot of pivots, grow our user base, and be featured as one of the up-and-coming social platforms to look out for," Chapman said.
The company is leveraging recent publicity to bolster other initiatives, he said.
“We’ve got some really interesting things in the pipeline with sporting arenas, to let fans come back for different games,” he said. “We’re trying to raise a $2 million seed round, and we’re giving our community and users the ability to own a piece of Plain Sight, through the Republic equity crowdfunding platform.”
After Regulation CF or Title III of the JOBS Act was enacted by the Securities and Exchange Commission in May 2016, entrepreneurs were allowed to gather funds from non-accredited, public investors for the very first time.
Using Republic’s equity crowdfunding platform, Plain Sight is using this regulatory evolution to enable its users to participate in its future upside.
“We want to give our community, the ones that will make or break us, some true ownership in what we’re building, and invest right alongside accredited investors.”
Pictured: Plain Sight's founding team.
Innovation Outlook: The stickiness of the Plain Sight platform is on the supply side, Chapman said.
“Plain Sight finds common threads and then allows people to go deeper on those common threads, making it easier for you to connect.”
Going forward, the company will hone in on partnerships and networking events.
“As event organizers are looking for solutions to their in-person events again, we want to be the first platform they consider for adding more value to their experience. One of the most valuable things we provide is data. We provide the skills, the interest, the professions, what people are looking for that’s coming in and out of their spaces or events.”
Users and partners then use Plain Sight data to tailor their experiences for end users or participants.
“We’re in a good position to serve people, if they’re going out, to go into some of these shared spaces,” Chapman told Benzinga.
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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