12:11 | 16.06.20 | startups | exclusive 22638

Armenian startup oores plans quick meetings with friends for you

Armenia Startup Academy graduate, Armenian startup oores has created a mobile app that helps friends to organize unplanned, quick meetings.

The app identifies the users’ preferences and uses a special algorithm to suggest meet-up places.

The startup was founded by three friends, who joined forces to solve an issue that was very relevant for their group. Lusine, Aram and Sona quit their jobs several months ago to focus on the app. They help each other out with corresponding experience in areas from coding to business development.

The oores team has told Itel.am that whenever they are out after the working hours or during lunch and there is nothing planned for that time, they find it really difficult to organize a meeting with friends who have free time and are ready to come.

“This issue has birthed the famous hashtag in Yerevan - #coffeecenter, which is used for similar purposes. With oores, you access the map directly and see if any of your friends are nearby. You can select friends and indicate the place for the meeting – café, cinema, park, etc. Oores will draw a route for you like a taxi app does, and you can follow the movement on the map to see when the given friend is about to arrive. You don’t have to call anymore and ask them where they are (“Oor es?” means “Where are you?” in Armenian – Itel.am),” explained the team.

The startup targets around 150,000 people aged under the age of 30 in Yerevan, a city with a population of 1 million. The target audience lives in different districts and goes out with friends often.

According to oores team, participation in Armenia Startup Academy’s program has helped to establish new connections, advance technical knowledge, and improve product development and presentation. Oores has since applied to and won a state-sponsored scholarship in Draper University.

Oores is available in AppStore, and within the next six months, the app will have an Android version as well.
“We want to engage the main audience here in Armenia and make final improvements in the algorithm that learns to identify your preferences and choose places for meetings,” said the team.

The startup is looking for influences to become the brand’s faces and early users, presenting the app to their audience and make suggestions and posts.

Narine Daneghyan