The latest “cofounder platform” promising to connect cofounders to launch the next wave of startups is in London and has a great name. London startup Bizoogo, is allowing UK entrepreneurs to search, connect and collaborate with partners and co-found new businesses.
“The website is organised as a Noticeboard for “People” and “Ideas”. If you’re looking to find a co-founder to help develop your business idea, search our database of “People”; if you want to contribute your time and skills to a new startup opportunity as a co-founder, search our database of “Ideas”.”
“To get started,you sign up for free; update your profile by specifying your location, expertise and the industries you’re interested in. If you have a startup idea, post a brief, specify your location, the industry of your idea, and the expertise you’re looking for in a co-founder. Now you can find or be found according to location, expertise and industry preferences. You can shortlist your top picks and connect privately or publicly via our messaging features. And when you’re ready to meet, come along to our monthly co-founder networking meetups to find out whether the connection is as good face-to-face as it is online.” Erez Nounou told nibletz.com in an interview.
Who are the founders and what are their backgrounds?
Erez Nounou (CEO) – Erez started out as a commercial lawyer before jumping ship and getting involved in the London startup scene. Alongside founding bizoogo, he has also been involved in digital media and angel investing.
Nicolás Klein (CTO) – Nico is our all-knowing technical guru. From Buenos Aires, he’s been programming for over 6 years and has several desktop and mobile (android) applications to his name. He’s now working on the next set of game-changing features on bizoogo.
Where are you based?
London, UK.
What’s the startup scene/culture like where you’re based?
The London startup scene is buzzing. We’ve got some of the best support and infrastructure in the world and the quality of our startup and investment community continues to improve and influence the European tech space. It’s a good time to be a startup in London, and as a grassroots entrepreneur community, we’ve got great seats.
How did you come up with the idea for Bizoogo?
The idea came about as a solution to my own startup dilemma of having an idea but not having the technical skills or the industry know-how to develop it. Starting up can be expensive and before proof of concept, risky. It seemed like a good idea to have a go-to, where you know from the start there’s a bunch of people from a range of industries and areas of expertise available and interested in working together, either to eliminate bad ideas early or to validate and develop good ones. That would give us all a cost-effective opportunity to start new businesses and to build better resourced teams from the start.
How did you come up with the name?
It all stemmed from the root word ‘zoog’, which in Hebrew means partner; the website is a place where entrepreneurs are able to find the partners they need to ‘go into business’. Put it all together and you get bizoogo – you go into business! The interlinking O’s in the logo design represent the partnership made up of ‘People’ and ‘Ideas’.
What problem does Bizoogo solve?
With an “ambition gap” in the UK that sees more than 44% of the population wanting to start a business but not doing it, and that “gap” largely follows worldwide, our aim is to bridge the gap by matching the ideators with the technical help they need to execute. Working together lets both sides bridge the creative, technical and financial gap that holds them back; it’s also a really easy, effective and fun way of validating ideas and building a community for those of us that are new to the scene and just scratching and exploring the surface.
What’s your secret sauce?
It’s informal, easy to use, clear in purpose, non-discriminatory and effective. Members across all industries and areas of expertise are able to connect and work together in partnerships that share the talent, time and cost of developing a new business. Instead of paying disconnected freelancers at a time when risks are high and money is limited, anyone can now find the people they need or collaborate on the ideas they like, with a shared interest to make it work. We also realise that lasting relationships don’t exist virtually, so having face-to-face opportunities to meet really helps.
Are you bootstrapped or funded?
Bootstrapped…investors, get in touch.
What is your goto market strategy?
We’re using social media to spread the word via facebook and twitter; we promote our events via meetup; we’re big on strategic partnerships and try to attend and get involved at as many industry events as possible.
What’s one challenge you’ve overcome in the startup process?
The toughest challenge was finding the right people to work with. To start a new venture, you often don’t know where to start, who to ask or trust and there’s generally a lot of trial-and-error, particularly with freelancers. I think it’s a problem which knocks back a lot of people with business ideas because going beyond your own limited network is a step too far in the dark for most. We’ve created and personally used Bizoogo to help overcome that problem, and it’s fast becoming a really credible go-to community and first point of call for many UK entrepreneurs, because you’re sure to find a mix of different skills, experience and ideas, with the joint aim of collaborating and co-founding new ventures.
Who are some of your mentors and business role models?
We’ve got a solid network of experienced and exited entrepreneurs across digital and traditional business. I think we’re lucky in that we meet so many passionate and enthusiastic entrepreneurs through our events and our day-to-day that it always provides us with a good measure of inspiration and learning.
What’s next for Bizoogo?
We’re looking to create an end-to-end startup ecosystem where ideas are conceived, developed, grown and funded into profitable businesses.
We want the platform to become a creative, dynamic and ambitious hub packed full of ideas and professionals looking to get involved across the industries, and we want to make sure we’re able to help any business from idea through to sustainability. Watch this space!
You can find out more about Bizoogohere.