Untappd: Tapping Into Social Check-ins for Brewskies
If you're a beer drinker and are a social media geek, you've probably heard of Untappd, which has been dubbed, the Foursquare of beer.
As Technorati reported, Utapped recently acquired RedPint, a smaller Boston-based competitor.
Recently, I sat down with John Vajda, co-creator of RedPint, to discuss the acquisition, the inspiration behind the app, the location-based services market, and what Untappd users can expect moving forward.
TR: What was the inspiration behind the app?
Vajda: The idea of RedPint came out of the need to understand what brands of beer we should try. Being new to Boston my Co-Founder Alicia Benjamin and I weren't sure what beers we'd like. We wished there was a mobile app that could easily tell us if we'd like a certain brewery.
TR: What value does RedPint bring to Untappd?
Vajda: For one, we've been down the native app development path and feel we can add value as Untappd looks to expand natively to the Android and iOS platforms. Secondly, we can bring product strategy and vision as we had long term goals to revolutionize the beer industry with mobile solutions. And lastly, the relationships we've made in the beer industry are strong and we hope to leverage those as we continue to build upon Untappd's platform.
TR: How do you think this beer-check-in market will evolved over the next year or two?
Vajda: I think you'll see a convergence of apps either from acquisitions or apps just shutting down all together. It's a fractured community right now and I'd expect we'll see a few companies rise to the top as they grow their user community and features to meet the needs of beer fans, beer locations and breweries.
TR: Can you share any plans about the future of Untappd as it relates to rolling in RedPint (as RP is an actual app and UT is a web-based app)
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