Unsocial raises seed round

Like a LinkedIn for events, the mobile app lets users connect at tradeshows and conferences

Unsocial, a mobile app for connecting with new people at business events like conferences and tradeshows, announced Monday that it has secured an undisclosed round of seed funding from several unnamed angel investors, and the company is gearing up to start raising its Series A round.

Like a LinkedIn specifically designed for events, Unsocial (which is actually quite social) allows users to connect through LinkedIn and port all of their LinkedIn information to create their Unsocial profile, which is displayed via the mobile app at conferences and tradeshows so that other attendees can see what you’re about and strike up a conversation. The idea is to facilitate connections at events and help users make relevant business contacts—which is so much more efficient than striking up a conversation with the person next to you only to suddenly realize that he’s not only incredibly boring, but also totally useless to you as a business contact. But by then, you’re stuck making awkward small talk.

So say for instance, you’re the CEO of a new startup and you’re looking for a finance guru who could possibly become the company’s CFO. By logging into Unsocial at a business event, you can browse the profiles of the other attendees to see who they are and what they do. But more importantly, you can also pinpoint their exact location at the event venue and hunt them down.

“As the high valuation given to LinkedIn in its IPO shows, both investors and users are embracing the future of connectivity based on relevance, and the importance of software applications that can bring together people with common interests,” said Bruce Brown, co-founder and CEO of Unsocial and Apptango, in a statement. “We believe our Unsocial product will help mobilize people connections, helping individuals and organizations determine who and where they should meet. This new location based networking ecosystem is a very exciting community.”

The app is available for iPhone, Android, and Blackberry and it’s currently available in 17 North American cities, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, Seattle, and Toronto, Ontario, among others.

To spread the word, Unsocial is queuing up a number of events where it will be the hosted tool. For example, the Seattle Interactive Conference will create an “Unsocial bubble” over the entire city during the two-day conference to connect people at the UW Convention Center and the surrounding area.

The company plans to use the new funds to expand its functionality, specifically its integration with LinkedIn, and drive further growth and investment as it prepares for its Series A round. 

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