Despite being one of the most densely populated places in the world, with 6,650 people crammed into one square kilometer, most Hong Kongers can attest to not knowing their neighbors.
MyFlat.HK, Hong Kong’s neighborhood social network, wants to change all that. As a location-based platform that allows users to connect with nearby neighbors and businesses, MyFlat.HK is a step above other social networks as it aims to connect people in person.
According to co-founder and CEO Matthew Tam, his startup has not only pulled in 3,000 registered users to date, but they’re also running two pilot programs to jumpstart two Hong Kong communities.
Their first plan of attack is to unite the student population in Hong Kong across six universities (HKU, HKUST, CUHK, BU, CityU and PolyU) and the MyFlat.HK platform will serve as a virtual bulletin board. “Most of those residential halls are managed by student unions, so we would expect students living in the same building to know each other,” said Matthew. “The need might not be there for people to connect within one building, so each university is going to be one neighborhood.”
Besides posting events such as fundraisers or mixers, Matthew said that other typical uses for the board would be to sell textbooks, bulk buying from ParknShop and sharing taxis to the airport.
(MyFlat.HK co-founders Antony Wong and Matthew Tam)
The idea for their second pilot program came from a matter of demand as Kowloon City merchants approached the MyFlat.HK team directly. One in particular is a third-generation live poultry shop, which Matthew says is looking for a means to save their flailing business.
“We’re now expanding our platform into businesses, because people have approached us with this need. The first phase is just a listing, and the second phase will be a feature where people can connect on a real-time basis,” he said. “It will go beyond something like OpenRice, which offers only static information. We’ll allow merchants to create dynamic and real-time listings.”
Matthew uses a bakery, which prides themselves in the freshness of their egg tarts, as an example. When a fresh batch is ready to come out, the bakery can notify members of the community on MyFlat.HK that fresh egg tarts will be available in 15 minutes. Of course, only users within the vicinity (or neighborhood) of the bakery can see the posting, which encourages inter-community support of local businesses.
After being accepted into the Google EYE program, MyFlat.HK has captured the attention of local Chinese media including Apple Daily. And as the EYE program moves closer to completion (final presentations on September 13th), MyFlat.HK has just secured a finalist position in the top 20 and will wait to see if they’ll be a part of the lucky five teams to visit Google HQ in Mountain View, California.
Matthew Tam on Startbase.HK: Matthew Tam
MyFlat.HK on Startbase.HK: MyFlat.HK
