SipTogether: nightlife and party culture in one app [Interview]

SipTogether enables new acquaintances and spontaneous meetings with new people – for the next party, a jog or to end the evening together. We spoke to the founders who are currently establishing the platform in Karlsruhe and Mannheim.

Hi Jan, hi Lorenz! Your team has developed SipTogether, an exciting app for students. Before we take a closer look at it, why don’t you tell us a few words about yourselves?

Our young, seven-strong team consists mainly of students, primarily from the Karlsruhe region. We are very diverse: We have different degree programs (computer science, business informatics and industrial engineering), but also a trained app developer. We all got to know each other online – and accordingly, we also work together very successfully remotely.

How did the idea for SipTogether come about and why did you choose this particular name?

Jan had the idea for SipTogether back in 2019 during a visit to Hamburg with friends. We wanted to do something in the evening and meet new people. However, we didn’t have the right platform for this.

He then developed the concept for SipTogether. I came up with the name from the words “sip” and “together”: Because being together almost always means drinking or experiencing something together.

This shared experience is also very important for us as the “social media” generation. We have apps like Instagram, Tinder and WhatsApp on our smartphones. We use messenger services to communicate with our friends or check out their latest photos on Facebook. But we are missing something: direct contact. Although today’s generation is very connected, it is also isolated to some extent. We noticed this particularly clearly during the coronavirus crisis.

We want to change that with our “SipTogether” app.

“SipTogether is the app for new acquaintances and spontaneous meetings with new people,” you write on your website. How should we imagine this in practice?

As soon as you open the app, you see a map. Users can use this interactive map to see who in their area is interested in social activities and wants to network directly – without having to wait or swipe.

The second main function of the app is an event list with public events in the area, such as a round of spikeball in the park or a beer together on the Rhine. In principle, anyone with a complete profile can create a new event. Users have the opportunity to chat with each other before or after the event in a shared chat group.

Other gamification functions such as the integrated drinking/social game and the SipScore* make our app unique – and offer decisive added value compared to other digital apps: with WhatsApp, you have to know each other and have exchanged phone numbers before you can make contact. Instagram and Facebook are primarily designed for following each other online. It is difficult to get to know each other there. On the dating app Tinder, it often takes days or weeks before a real-life meeting takes place (if at all). SipTogether closes this existing gap.

What are your plans for the future? What new features can users look forward to in the future?

We currently see ourselves as a student app, especially for networking for and among first-year students. However, we have also received a lot of positive feedback from older people and can imagine addressing other target groups in the coming years.

This semester, we are focusing our marketing activities on the universities in Karlsruhe and Mannheim. The next step will be Münster. In cooperation with initiatives and local companies in the gastronomy scene, we are creating distribution on a small budget, as we are self-financing and do not yet have any external investors. We are aiming for a first round of financing at the end of 2021.

A feature that we want to integrate into the app in the future: Restaurants, bars and clubs will be visually highlighted on the map with their locations. For a small monthly fee, they have the opportunity to target young people, for example with coupons or other promotions within the app such as a half-price cocktail. This benefits both the users and the restaurants, bars and clubs.

And finally, in general: How do you experience your time as a start-up?

Even though there have always been major and minor hurdles and setbacks to overcome, we are still full of enthusiasm and firmly believe in the success behind SipTogether!

We have developed from a one-man idea, business plan, crowdfunding campaign, brand and GmbH foundation, accelerators and finished app to a start-up with seven team members. Since we all live in different places and Corona has also restricted us a lot, communication within the team is the most important task we have to accomplish. No school or theoretical course of study can replace what each of us has learned during this time – and it has helped us enormously both personally and professionally.

*TheSipScore shows how many different people someone has already met via SipTogether and thus offers users significantly more security (the higher the score, the more trustworthy the person).