Jorg Mohaupt

Mar 27, 2014

March 27, 2014     0 Comments Split, a company dedicated to helping people avoid awkward encounters, has raised a $1 million seed investment from high-profile private investors, including entrepreneur, investor, and real estate and fashion mogul, Christopher Burch; Warner Music Group director and PERFORM board member, Jorg Mohaupt; international designer, actress and fashion icon, Dodo Bar Or; CEO and co-founder of acclaimed advertising and branding agency Zarmon Goldman DDB, Hadar Goldman; private venture capitalist and board member of several internet businesses, Alex Zubillaga; and PERFORM joint CEO and board member, Oliver Slipper. The Split apps work by gathering a person’s existing contact and social information (as they permit) as well as public social network data from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Foursquare. PRESS RELEASE Split, a company dedicated to helping people avoid awkward encounters, today announced the launch of the company and its apps for iOS and Android in the US market. Split also disclosed a $1 million seed investment from high-profile private investors, including entrepreneur, investor, and real estate and fashion mogul, Christopher Burch; Warner Music Group Director and PERFORM Board Member, Jorg Mohaupt; international designer, actress and fashion icon, Dodo Bar Or; CEO and Co-Founder of acclaimed advertising and branding agency Zarmon Goldman DDB, Hadar Goldman; private venture capitalist and board member of several internet businesses, Alex Zubillaga; and PERFORM Joint CEO and Board Member, Oliver Slipper. The Split apps work by gathering a person’s existing contact and social information (as they permit) as well as public social network data from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Foursquare. From there, the user selects people to avoid, scans the area for “avoidees,” and if avoidees are in the area, Split immediately provides the user an escape route to avoid the encounter. “Just imagine a world that no matter where you go, you only run in to people you want to meet,” said Udi Dagan, CEO and Founder of Split. “The idea for Split was born on a frustrating night, about two years ago, when I ran into my ex-girlfriend in a bar. After a few awkward minutes, I hurriedly gathered my friends out of there and into another pub down the street, where I literally bumped into another ex… Not a good night.” “Split challenges all of the community-based businesses ‘helping people connect’. It challenges the herd – the millions of people trapped and cornered by social networking,” said Hadar Goldman. “It challenges ‘big brother’ and the very basic, long-gone ability to live our lives in privacy, whenever and however we choose to, and particularly when it comes to encounters in the ‘real world’. “ Split is intuitive and designed to work in the background, using only a tiny fraction of battery power per hour, after a quick initial setup. The iOS and Android apps provide users with a full “Anti-Social” experience with immersive features, including: • “Who With”: Sees who is hanging out with your avoidees • “Who’s There”: Scans distant locations and your favorite hangout spots for avoidees • “Danger Zones”: Prevents you from going where your avoidees frequent • “Escape Route”: Provides an actionable plan, via arrows on a map, to circumnavigate avoidees • “Event Alerts”: Alerts you if an avoidee is attending an event you’re planning on attending • “Off the Grid”: Allows Split users to, for up to an hour and a half, avoid being detected, so other users can’t avoid them Split will continuously launch new features over the next six to twelve months to provide people with a full range of antisocial experiences. “An Anti-Social Inspiration.” An early version of the app was tested in beta in Israel in November 2013. Within twenty-four hours, the app reached number five in the iTunes store in social and was featured in numerous media outlets. The response was overwhelming – people wanted a technology that can help them avoid other people: ex-girlfriends/boyfriends, former and current bosses, high school and college friends, parents and other relatives – anyone that would create an awkward encounter for both parties. “During the process of designing the Split app, it was really interesting to see how people reacted to the idea of an app that’s primarily targeted at avoiding other people,” stated Dagan. “At first, most would twist up their face and start laughing. But then, when I gave examples of different situations where it could come in handy (my favorite is still ‘imagine running into your parents on a first date’), all of a sudden a light bulb went on and a revelation was noted – ’Oh, I see… That’s actually pretty useful!’” Videos on the concept of Split and product demonstration can be seen on Split’s YouTube channel:http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpd_z0T6h0unyk7LQtQpKRw/feed Download the iOS app here: https://itunes.apple.com/il/app/split-the-anti-social-app/id668717017?mt=8 Download the Android app here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=it.getspl About Split Split (www.gottasplit.com) is the only “Anti-Social” company to work with all of the major social networks, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Foursquare as well as the only one with both iOS and Android apps, available for free download today. Split is providing people with a full anti-social experience with intuitive and comprehensive features to help everyone easily avoid awkward unwanted encounters. # # #