WizCard: Your virtual business card and much more
"WizCard was literally born when watching Harry Potter. I felt that business cards of today should be a lot more useful than they are now," said Anand Ammundi, Founder, WizCard.
Co-founded with Anand Ramani, WizCard aims to be the instant networking platform of the world. It seeks to redefine the way the world perceives, uses, and benefits from first-mile networking. It is a location-based app that allows users to discover, exchange contact information, and connect with other users instantly.
What pain point are they trying to address?
Over 30 billion business cards are exchanged across the world every year. Looking deep into a positive of the business card, which is its ease of exchange, Anand decided to do away with its negatives — the fact that it is cumbersome, static, disconnected, and that it is impossible to search through characteristics. Necessity is the mother of all invention, and thus WizCard came into existence.
How did they go about addressing the opportunity?
Anand spent a lot of time interacting with people who were prolific business card users, after which he went about writing a sophisticated backend of WizCard, upon which it is based. Later, he got hold of an iOS developer who put up a basic version of the app, which, in turn, helped him refine the backend.
What were the habits that influenced him to go on this journey?
The "Do it once, do it right" kind of attitude helped him a lot. This generally translated into the product via an attention to detail. His tendency to lead, be it a student election or being in charge of the cultural festival, made a big difference.
USP of the product
WizCard is an instant networking platform. It comprises a user-facing location-based app and an enterprise-facing portal.
It allows users to create a rich media, immersive and engaging digital persona. Advertisers can have instant location-based access to the WizCard network. It provides a seamless event networking platform for attendees and a superior lead generation platform for exhibitors. Additionally, it has monetisation taps for event organisers.
Revenue growth
They haven't started earning revenue yet. They intend to monetise as follows:
- Enterprise subscription for the "Green Business Card"
- Registration % from event organisers for "WizCard@Events"
- In-app purchase for premium features
Market size in this sector
The event management software market is expected to be worth $9.20 billion by 2020. Although there are no numbers tracking first-mile networking, the following are the indicative users:
Facebook user base: 1.5 billion
LinkedIn user base: 350 million
Camcard user base: 50 million
Funding status
They have raised $50,000 in seed funding.
Current team size, hiring, and motivating strategy
They currently have a team size of four. The founders together have a total of 40 years of industry expertise. They have a healthy track record of building, moulding, and leading teams to achieve high levels of performance.