In this socially connected world, while we manage to remain in contact with our aunt living in London through Skype and Facebook etc., we fail to even know the names of the people living next door. Well, this major flaw in the communication structure prompted Prashant Pitti, an alumnus of IIT-Madras to come up with a social networking application for neighbourhood called the NearGroup.
Within a few days of its launch, the app has been successful in connecting 500 localities in Delhi, 300 in Gurgaon, 270 in Ghaziabad and 250 in Noida.
Claiming to be India's first neighbourhood social networking app, it is currently available on Android and iOS and works strictly within a neighbourhood, allowing only genuine residents of a particular area to register via Facebook.
The app is extremely dependable and easy to use as only verified users are allowed to be part of a group of a locality. Recently, using the app, a group of like-minded individuals in east Delhi got together to teach and help the needy children.
The NearGroup app makes available a real-time group chat facility. Their future plans include introducing a panic button that can alert other members of the group in case of any emergency so that help can reach the individual immediately.
According to the founder Prashant Pitti, NearGroup is backed by a survey conducted in India which indicated that 72% of the Indian population face neighbourhood-related issues almost every month. This is when Prashant decided to quit his high profile job with HSBC in Chicago and launch a start-up in India. Pitti is now planning to extend the app to other cities too.
NearGroup isn't just like any other social networking app, it also strives to assist the users in solving problems like women safety, child bullying in their colony, make local friends, carpool with nearby people, meet similar professionals, and even borrow items of daily use like hammer or ladder among others. In order to do all this, they will have to become a part of a neighbourhood community just by downloading the app and registering themselves by selecting their location.
Users can choose their interests from carpool, parenting, sports, yoga, running, gym, dance, painting, cooking, exam preparations, travelling, start-ups, work profile, etc. and depending on their selection, they're allocated a group. After becoming a part of the group, the users can discuss, meet and communicate with other members of the group.
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