The Uruguayan app that started in 2013 as an informative guide for the gay community, today offers itself as a space for interaction, a social network and a content platform. GPSGay is not only expanding in terms of functionality, but also geographically. Its founders, Magdalena Rodríguez and Rosario Monteverde, closed an investment of US$ 300,000 in the last few weeks and expect to launch the application in the United States between February and March, where they already have offices in San Francisco.
2016 was for its founders a year full of awards, travel, learning and opportunities. It was precisely on one of those trips, to Switzerland, that they contacted an angel investor who contributed to the momentum of entrepreneurship in the United States.
500,000 downloads of the GPSGay application since its foundation.
"He is a millionaire who supports ventures with social impact. It had been put on hold, but when he found out we were going to the United States, he was interested again and that's when we were able to make it happen," said Rodríguez. The entrepreneurs are part of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC), which calls itself "the voice of LGBT business. It was through this organization that, during a two and a half month stay in San Francisco, they were able to contact the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and brands such as Sony Pictures, Toyota, Marriot, among others, with whom they are in talks.
GPSGay offers these brands the possibility of being sponsors on its platform. "They were interested in doing things together," Monteverde said. He added that each of these brands allocates a portion of its budget to support LGBT proposals. Through the support of the brands they are talking to and other groups of investors, the entrepreneurs hope to close a US$1,000,000 round of capital to launch their application in the United States.
"We don't just want investors to give us money, but also value, know-how and access to their networks to keep growing," Rodriguez said. He noted that for the launch it is key to have a greater knowledge of the market, which is why they are forming a team of volunteers in San Francisco. They will be looking for volunteers in other parts of the United States.
Adding value
Among the objectives of the entrepreneurs in this stage of growth is to increase the number of users, form a team of more people and focus the application on content issues.
GPSGay has a selection of movies, which are recommended by the users themselves. This is currently the most successful function of the application. But the idea of Rodriguez and Monteverde is also betting on other types of content, such as information about health and self-esteem. "We want it to be something more social but not like Tinder, we want another application format. That's where we think we bring more value to users," Rodriguez said.
One of the actions that GPSGay is preparing together with the IDB is a diverse job market. At the same time, they are working on an agreement with Expedia to book hotel rooms through the app. On January 12, they will have an interview in the United States with the accelerator 500 Startups. If selected, they will be installed for three months for the acceleration process.
HIV Survey
GPSGay conducted a survey together with UN AIDS -a client of GPSGay-, to determine how many users of the platform had been tested for HIV. The result was that 40% had never been tested (most of them because they didn't know where and were afraid to ask). That is why UN AIDS added a map to the app with all the places where you can get tested for free. At the same time, an online sexuality clinic was added with the support and answers from the organization "Chau Taboo", which is administered by the government of Buenos Aires. Rodriguez said the tool is now much more widely used than it was when it was not part of GPSGAY.
Source: The Observer
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