Add a photo. Tag your interests. Get 20 personalized suggestions of the people you need to meet to further your career.

That’s how easy it is to use Shapr, a free app that will help you meet people with matching professional goals. Shapr, which has offices in Paris and New York, is a startup that has set out to make networking easier, faster and more meaningful.

Shapr was created by renowned data scientists who built one of the most complex algorithms available for swiping apps. Using relevant criteria like your location, professional level, specific networking goals and self-selected interests, the app churns out personalized suggestions of who to meet to network more effectively. Here’s the best part: Everyone you match with is actively interested in meeting people like you. They’re all there for the same reason you are.

Opportunities at Your Fingertips

The point of Shapr is to meet face-to-face, learn from your matches and discover potential areas of collaboration. Unlike social apps that just aggregate thousands of “followers” who you rarely engage with, Shapr is designed to get you actually chatting with your matches over coffee, Skype or in other ways.

“I have found 40 of my 80 podcast guests through the app,” says Joe Rizzo, host of the podcast WeeklySitDown. “I even found my publicist. I like the app because it’s full of people [who] want to help you and who can introduce you to others who may be able to help.”

So why does Shapr work so well? Beyond the personalized, useful suggestions of who to meet, the app has a built-in community of people who are as motivated as you are to meet and support each other. Shapr has over 1 million users, and they’ve shared countless success stories of how they boosted their careers through meeting the right people who can get their resume in the door or found people who can offer advice on a possible career change.

Pixon Games CEO Kam Punia says he actually met his investors, former King’s executives, through the app.

“Through Shapr, we found our first investor, who happens to be one of the people behind Candy Crush,” says Punia. “There are a huge amount of possibilities and opportunities that have come from the app, all because you are able to meet individuals from different industries who are equally excited [about] sharing ideas.”

Ultimately, Shapr takes the work out of mining LinkedIn for connections or hustling at industry events, and it makes networking more meaningful, inspiring and fun. Test it out for yourself - Shapr is free for iOS and Android.

Futurism fans: To create this content, a non-editorial team worked with Shapr, who sponsored this post. They help us keep the lights on. This post does not reflect the views or the endorsement of the Futurism.com editorial staff.

Share This Article