Singapore-based Noddon is in the process of rolling out its mobile application by the same name to a larger group of beta users, as it readies for an Asia launch. The application, which can be downloaded from app stores, enables users to create an address book from scratch or generate one from their Facebook or Linkedin address books. Subsequently, any updates by contacts in the address book are synced automatically. The company plans to enter North America, Europe and China after its Asia foray and is currently in the market to raise around S$ 300,000 for further product development.
Kelvin Koh, who earlier worked as a business developer in the information technology and real estate sectors in Singapore and China respectively, founded Noddon in December 2010. In his previous jobs, like most people, he found it cumbersome to transfer contact information from various business cards to his mobile address book. “I tried business card scanners and contact management programs, but most were complicated and unreliable,” he says. At the same time he realized that with social networks such as Facebook and Linkedin becoming more prevalent in everyday life, there could be an opportunity to synchronise the two.
Noddon’s S$150,000 seed capital came from Koh’s savings and family loans. It started beta testing the application with focus groups a few months ago (the number of beta users was not available). The company currently employs a team of five, of which three are in product development and two are marketing executives. It has initiated talks with government agencies and venture capital firms to raise additional funding. Part of the funds will be used to extend the product’s reach to cover platforms such as Windows, Blackberry and other feature phones. Koh declined to comment on revenue targets for the next two years.
The company’s closest competitors, he says, could be Plaxo, Google Contacts or Facebook. However, since each offers unique services, he does not see Noddon competing directly with any of them for market share.
Image Courtesy: Noddon
