That is why Luxembourg entrepreneur Jacques-Félix Wirtz and his friend and business partner Loïc Ambroise have co-founded the phone application called Dappin.

In the Urban Dictionary, “dappin” is described as “the most fun you can have without being intoxicated”. Thus, this app is trying to offer networking between people trying to share activities with like-minded people.

The idea behind the app

“The idea of creating an app that connects people with the same interests got concrete during the internship I did in New York beginning 2015,” Wirtz told Delano. “Completely on my own, I struggled in the first months to find people with whom I could easily hang out on the weekends and evenings, for certain activities (such as going to the Moma or discovering Manhattan), without having to use dating apps.”

Later, Wirtz met Ambroise, originally from France, during their business studies in London. After brainstorming various startup ideas to work on together, they settled for Dappin. “Loïc joined me in my idea in 2017, and together we were able to move quickly forward in finishing the first prototype.”

In 2017, Wirtz and Ambroise presented their prototype on the tv show called “Success Story”, a TV show broadcast on RTL that supports new startups, similar to “Shark Tank” in the US. Through the TV show, Wirtz and Ambroise were able to receive funding from 2 business angels and identify developers to help launch their app.

Loïc Ambroise, co-founder of Dappin. Photo: Dappin/Jill Wenger

How does it work?

The way the app works is simple. The user creates an activity depending on what they are looking for. There are 15 different categories to choose from, with some having sub categories: movies, museum, sports, bar, exploring, restaurant, concert, party, amusement park, library, cooking, traveling, games, and ‘other’. As described on the app’s Facebook page, the user must also share a video of themselves to “share your look, your smile, and your personality”. Once these steps done, the user may ‘match’ with someone that has the same interest.

Since its official launch in June 2019, some interesting matches have been made on Dappin. Wirtz said: “I guess the cutest activity we have seen so far is a girl who does her own honey (she has a couple of beehives) and was looking for another user interested in helping her. She personally thanked us as she managed to find someone.”