Company: Scvngr Location: Boston Founded: June 2008 Founder: Seth Priebatsch Funding: $4.8 million Employees: 50
Scvngr founder Seth Priebatsch &8212' who prefers the title &''chief ninja&'' to &''CEO&'' &8212' took the idea of checking in to a location to the next level and turned it into a game. We caught up with Priebatsch to talk more about Scvngr&'s popularity: It recently reached more than 500,000 users and is still growing fast.
Why did you start the company My vision was to build a game layer on top of the world and give people an experience outside of their usual lives. People are motivated by virtual games played on a computer or the Xbox. We want to take that motivation and transition it to the real world. We now have a functioning game in the physical world that fits into everyonea4ぎa4г daily lives and anyone can play. We want people to take a few seconds every day to check in and play.
Whata4ぎa4г the coolest place you checked into recently I recently made a trip to the top of Mount Washington. While I was at the research station, I decided to check in and complete one of the default tasks on Scvngr, snapping a picture. I also had the opportunity to complete another task, the social check-in, with four of my friends who happened to be with me on the top of the mountain. That was pretty cool.
When did you realize it was working A couple months ago, I logged onto Facebook and saw a post from someone on my wall. I didna4ぎa4д really know the guy, but there was a comment on my recent check-in update. The person said a4ぎAOh hey, you use Scvngr, too. I love it!a4ぎ He didna4ぎa4д know I was the founder of Scvngr. It was eye-opening to have an almost complete stranger tell me that he loved the game.
What&'s next for the location-based industry and services The next phase of location-based anything is about stories and experiences, rather than just a check-in. Ita4ぎa4г about showing what happens during a period of time. For example, doing a task at a location like taking a picture tells a specific story that can then be shared with others.
Where are you checking in next Ia4ぎa4ll be checking in to Boston Paintball. We issued a proclamation that Scvngr owns the startup world in Boston and challenged all startups to the ultimate paintball match. So far, we have had inbound-marketing company Hubspot answer the call. Wea4ぎa4ll let you know who wins!
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Companies: Scvngr
People: Seth Priebatsch
Companies: Scvngr
People: Seth Priebatsch
Cody Barbierri is a social and digital media consultant. He works for Piehead and blogs about social media at Social Tab. (None of his posts are about clients or their competitors.) Reach him at Cody@venturebeat.com. You can also follow Cody on Twitter.
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