by Guest Contributor | Amanda Cordisco
Greenville-based startup TipHive is determined to make information sharing easy
Wouldn’t it be great if there was an easily searchable, structured, virtual directory made up of all of your coworkers and friends who could collectively share information about anything? Well, there’s an app for that: TipHive.
ONE, the future site of TipHive’s new office in downtown Greenville.
TipHive is both an app and website dedicated to searching for useful information. TipHive is based on the creation of its “hives”—collections of information based on any topic the user would like to post. Every user has a profile that he can use to make hives, comment or follow others. With a commenting option and easily searchable profiles or tips, TipHive has worked toward making its directory extremely interactive. Users can choose to share the information in a hive with everyone, or only with a select group or individuals.
Founder Joost Wentink and cofounder Madiken Scholl were determined to make sharing information easier—within a company, a university or users’ own interests.
“We wanted to build a tool that’s going to capture that valuable experience of collectively sharing information in an organized way, that’s for your personal use,” Wentink said. “I can start a topic, invite people, and then we can share everything we know together about that topic.”
The TipHive team is made up of 12 members in Greenville, and a development team across the globe. TipHive prides itself on its structure, Wentink said.
“TipHive organizes ideas into searchable topics and profiles, to eliminate the stream or feed of endless unfiltered, and sometimes promoted, information,” he said. Even though it recently launched its app, TipHive has been growing over the past couple of years.
“We have been focusing on our content and our product,” Wentink said. “The biggest challenge for us has been to make the directory social and interactive.”
TipHive originally started in Montreal, but after deciding to move to the United States, the company connected with startup accelerator The Iron Yard. Iron Yard CEO Peter Barth suggested that Greenville would provide the support TipHive needed, instead of a Silicon Valley or a New York location.
“And we couldn’t be happier,” said Wentink. “The entire Greenville community is so supportive, specifically our amazing investors and customers. And the community is so willing to help. Greenville couldn’t have been a better place for us to do this.”
TipHive aims to be especially useful for companies, and offers a free trial for companies wanting to test out the app. “We help them set up a hive and all the information around that,” said Wentink. “It could be focused on customer support, sharing an employee handbook or sending around a piece of software. The company can evaluate it and decide if they want to be a customer or not. The trial is for anyone who wants to use a better, easier way of informing or communicating with employees, partners and suppliers.”
