Today, Denmark-based Wink is launching it’s new photo-sharing, location-based social network. Available for iPhone today, Wink CEO Francesco Patarnello demoed the app for me at LeWeb, despite my initial evasiveness at the thought of yet another photo sharing app, Francesco’s demo really caught my attention – not to mention the ridiculous viral video he created for the launch:
Room for growth in the Photo Sharing market
Sitting down with Francesco, he told me about how Wink, backed by Mangrove Partners for an undisclosed amount, wants to change the way we share photos during an outing – a night out with friends, a big party, etc. When we take photos today with friends, he says, we gather around the phone or camera that took the photo to see how it came out – Wink wants to change that. Wink automatically detects who you’re with and pushes photos that are taken to their phones. No longer will you crowd around one photo, but instead, each person will be able to see the photo taken from them in real-time.
Only 20% of photos that are taken are uploaded, Francesco says, and those photos are often edited & groomed. The reason being that people do not want to share embarrassing or fuzzy photos with their entire social community, and they don’t want to spend hours customizing who sees which photos. Wink takes a page out of Google+ Circles by automatically sharing photos taken only with the people who are with you at that occasion.
A Social Network for Europe
Formerly called Evertale, Wink got some press earlier this year by TechCrunch Europe writer Ingrid Lunden, who noted that this space is quite packed with players. Francesco says that one of the ways they are looking to differentiate is by focusing on the European market first. Launching initially in Denmark (they are headquartered in Copenhagen, despite having founders in several different countries), Wink hopes to bring a social network to Europe before going to the US – this strategy has worked well for startups like Deezer, who have notoriously avoided confrontation with competitor Spotify in the volatile US market.
Wink certainly looks promising, and with Facebook & Google+ fighting for your photos, maybe it’s time to try an app that’s fighting for your photo experience instead.
