Featured Startup Pitch: With a focus on photos and geo-location, ON.com wants to give people a better way to connect on social media

By Kevin Deegan, ON.com CTO

ELEVATOR PITCH

ON.com is the newest social networking platform that uses geo-discovery technology to instantly connect people using the medium that cuts through the clutter—photos. With 900,000 users worldwide, ON.com makes it easy to meet new people and expand your social network.

PRODUCT/SERVICE DESCRIPTION

ON.com is the newest way to meet people through photos. Like, comment and send private messages with users in your area and around the world. After users upload photos and customize their ON.com profile, you can check out members’ photos and easily connect. Aside from geo-location, ON.com offers unique searching capabilities where users can connect with people via common interests, hashtags, physical attributes, zodiac signs, and more.

FOUNDERS’ STORY

The founders of ON.com met when the team worked at the online dating site, Webdate. After Webdate, we all went our separate ways. Some went to work on iOS apps, and others Android, but we always saw opportunity in the mobile app space. As a result, we launched ON.com’s first beta test in 2013, and the rest is history.

MARKETING/PROMOTION STRATEGY

What differentiates us from the competition is that we have gotten to this point with almost no marketing. All word-of-mouth. Overall, the site is easy to use and is welcoming. We work very hard to keep it clean and to make sure our users feel comfortable.

For many users, ON.com is a way to connect with new and interesting people nearby or when visiting a new city. With a strong following in the 18-to-24 age range, ON.com is available worldwide using the platform’s mobile app and web platform capabilities so users can update profiles with new pictures, trends, and share ON.com experiences on other social networks, including Facebook.

MARKET OPPORTUNITY

More-and-more people are looking towards technology to find new ways to meet others. As has become more apparent because of sites like Tinder and Snapchat, a whole new market has recently opened up of finding and talking to new friends using communication methods only now available through next-generation smartphones. We hope to take advantage of these new technologies to provide even more useful ways for people to meet others in their busy lives.

DIFFERENTIATORS VS. THE COMPETITION

Unlike other social networks where you connect with people you already know, ON.com makes it easier to meet people you don’t know on one platform. ON.com contains the best components of other popular social media sites: Image heavy (Instagram), drawing/typing on photos (Snapchat), messaging (Facebook), stickers (LINE app).

BUSINESS MODEL

Our current focus is making sure our three platforms—Android, iOS, and web—are all in line with one another with regards to features and performance. We are not yet focusing 100 percent on monetization, although we do have a few freemium features, such as allowing users to purchase credits to feature themselves to a larger audience in the community.

CURRENT NEEDS

As we near one million users, we hope to grow our user base even more. We have a very active user base and would like to expand this so there are more opportunities for our members to meet new people. We are open to raising capital to accelerate growth or making key relationships in the near future.

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HEADQUARTERS: Los Angeles