Bu.mp is a new mobile app that uses web technologies and location services in order to facilitate a revolutionary new way of sharing contact details, common contacts and photos between two nearby mobile devices that “bump” into each other.
The mobile app can be installed on iPhone and Android phones. It uses the phone’s sensors to literally “feel” the bump, and it sends that info via the web to the Bu.mp servers. A matching algorithm listens to bumps from phones around the world and pairs up the phones that felt the same bump. In order to limit accidental bump matches, the app requires location services to be activated on both phones, to limit the matching possibilities.
The app website only has 4 letters, separated by a dot in the middle, bu.mp, which certainly helps in making it easy to remember for everyone. According to the Compete stats, the site had 5’000 monthly unique visitors on average in the last few months.
The company, Bump Technologies, was funded in 2008 by Jake Mint, David Lieb and Andy Huibers. It is based in Mountain View, California and funded by Y Combinator, Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz and other angel investors.
