AFRICA TECH NEWS
Changing the Way We Share Event Photos
ACCRA, GHANA : Two Ghanaian developers have launched Suba, an event-based iOS and Android mobile app that allows everyone at fun social gatherings (from concerts to weddings) to see and share photos together in one central photo stream. Suba goes beyond the constraints of a ‘Friends List’ common to other social platforms, and allows event attendees to see, save, and share everyone’s photos – including photos of people they aren’t already connected to.
The name Suba reflects the “flow” of the app’s novel photo viewing experience. It’s a riff on the the Twi word “nsuba,” which means “stream.”
“We came up with the concept for Suba after attending a friend’s wedding. Everyone was taking pictures, and we realized that we’d never have a chance to see them,” says Nelson Klutse, CEO of Suba who holds a combined Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics and Economics from University of Ghana, Legon. “Our ultimate ambition is to be globally synonymous with event experiences. Wherever there’s an event happening, it should be known that Suba is where you can find all of the photos taken at the event.”
Suba’s unique features help event attendees relive the best moments from social gatherings in a fun, exciting way:
Event-based: Time and place are a lot more central to the Suba experience than in other photo apps. All photo streams are anchored to a specific location, and each stream tells the story of people celebrating together at a particular moment in time.
Going beyond the Friend List: The best events bring strangers together, which is great for meeting new people, but not so great for accessing the great pictures taken by folks you might never see again. With Suba, a physical location – not a “Like” or a “Follow” – connects event attendees to each other, and so strangers can quickly share photos with everyone else who was there without having to hastily scribble down contact details.
Superior photo-viewing experience: The Suba stream is a new, highly engaging photo-viewing experience that helps users relive the moment in a vivid, engrossing way. As event attendants flick through everyone’s snapshots, they can easily save their favourites, as well as share their own photos with everyone in the stream.
Rich social interaction within images: Where other social networks focus on merely freezing a moment in time, Suba delights in bringing moments to life. Suba does this with its “Doodle” feature, which allows friends to scribble, mark up, and otherwise add a personal touch to the memory described by the photo.
Suba was developed by co-founders Nelson Klutse and Eric Hackman, and is based at the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) Incubator. The duo developed Ghana’s first Constitution app in the Google Play Store, which has been downloaded over 150,000 times.
“People are often surprised that we’re developers from Africa. The common narrative of the continent is usually one of poverty or aid, so the idea that something as innovative as Suba could be created here is a contrast to many people’s misconceptions of Africa,” says Eric Hackman, co-founder of Suba and also a graduate of the University of Ghana with a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science with Statistics.
To expand into international markets, Suba is partnering with event producers in cities such as New York, Rio de Janeiro, Paris, and Mumbai to introduce the app to cultural influencers with the ultimate goal of making Suba globally synonymous with shared event experiences.
Suba is currently available as a free app in the iOS App Store and Google Play Store. Download Suba: http://subaapp.com/download
Twitter: @subaphotoapp
ABOUT SUBA
Suba is an event-based iOS and Android mobile app that allows everyone at events to see and share photos together in one central photo stream.
ABOUT MEST
The Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) and the MEST Incubator provide training, investment and incubation to aspiring tech entrepreneurs, with the goal of creating globally successful companies that create wealth and jobs locally in Africa. Based in Accra, MEST has invested in over 20 early-stage startups with a portfolio ranging from eCommerce to health IT. MEST companies have raised external capital, competed in top technology events such as TechCrunch Disrupt, DEMO, and the Launch Festival, and have gained admittance to top accelerator programs such as 500 Startups and HealthXL. Currently expanding across West Africa, MEST has partnered with Interswitch, Nigeria’s leading payment processing company, to directly impact Nigeria’s IT entrepreneurs and its rapidly growing domestic ICT industry
www.meltwater.org
Muhammida El Muhajir
muhammida@meltwater.org
