Diddier Rappaport began his career in the textile industry as part of the family business. Then he developed an international trading company where he got materials from Asia to sell them in Europe. In the 90s, Rappaport discovered the digital world and created in 2000 Textileeguide, the first B2B services platform focused on the textile trade on an international scale. In 2002 he formed another platform, SourcesIT, now to train professionals in IT. In 2005, Didier became co-founder and COO of Dailymotion, the second largest platform for sharing videos in the world.
In 2013, A Didier came up with a dating app with Antony and Fabien Cohen. Only one year later they launch Happn.
Rappaport considers that the evolution of social behavior and customs have influenced and are influenced by technology. Therefore, he thinks that the digital world can provide answers to current problems.
Rappaport’s curiosity about social behavior led him to his latest creation. He said in an interview that has never been so difficult to connect people in real life like today. Most dating services are very virtual, require a lot of time or work as a human online store, which is considered unethical.
Happn uses hyper-location to offer compatibility when users have crossed paths in real life. In Rappaport’s opinion, this makes a critical difference. Despite the ingredient of serendipity, there is a logical reason to use the location to gather individuals. If you live in the same place, you probably have similar habits or work in a similar place. Time and space function as a double filter that proves that there is something in common.
The start-up introduced the Happn Map in June 2018. In it, users can review a place they visited and review who was in the same period. Like many apps, Happn has a ‘freemium’ model. Consumers can use the service for free, but there are premium features available.
For its business model, Happn requires a critical mass to function. Its primary market is in the cities. Although the offices are in Paris, it works with local contacts and marketing representatives who regularly share their perspective with the team, made up of people of multiple nationalities who travel to their country to live what happens in the area. That helps to become the app viral.
