Founder-matching app hits 300k swipes in 8 months

This article is a part of Startup Spotlight, a series that features young, up-and-coming startups.

Image credit: TechCrunch

CoffeeSpace, an app that matches startup founders, was almost never built.

Hazim Mohamad sat on the idea for two years, and only started taking action after a chance encounter with fellow Malaysian Carin Gan.

Together with Indonesian Fauzan Maulana, they’re building a startup out of San Francisco with a simple goal: to help more people realize their dreams of starting a business.

😟 Problem

• According to the founders, 61% of Americans harbor business ideas, but nine out of 10 don’t act on them.
• Five out of six main reasons for this inaction directly relate to not having a co-founder.

💡 Solution

CoffeeSpace is a mobile-first service that connects potential co-founders through:

• A matching algorithm using Boolean logic, social graph, and semantic matching.
• A founder’s journey feature with wins and losses documented.
• A cofounder trial period system.

This mobile-centric approach ensures a higher response rate among users.

Image credit: CoffeeSpace

📊 Market Size

The founders believe they’re riding on three global trends that encouraging more people to start businesses:

• Increasing adoption of no-code and AI tools
• The mainstreaming of side hustles and gig economies
• Tech layoffs and labor market shifts caused by AI.

Here is their estimated market size:

🤝 Team

🛞 Traction

🏆 Competition

💰 Financials