Alex Hofmann, the former president of Tiktok's precursor musical.ly, has made his come back with a newly-launched app.

(Photo : Craig Barritt/Getty Images for WSJ. Magazine 2017 Innovator Awards)
NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 01: Alex Hofmann of musical.ly speaks onstage during the WSJ. Magazine 2017 Innovator Awards at MOMA on November 1, 2017 in New York City.

Spark: Hofmann's New App

This is the first app venture for the tech entrepreneur after leaving his executive position when Tiktok came along.

Hofmann's new app is called "Spark" and it is operating under 9count, which is a tech company headed by him and Joe Viola. Instead of pairing two people who chose to swipe right on each other, the app challenges the "dating status quo" by presenting each user with a grid of active users.

The users will only be able to receive messages from the people that they have mutually sparked with.

This app also has a striking similarity with Bumble because when the user sends a like or a message on someone they want to spark with, the request will only last for 24 hours. 

"Spark is a reflection of 9count's mission to help people to find deep connections in a world that is comprised of mostly surface-level connections online," Hofmann said in a statement, reported by tubefilter.

He also added that they, "created Spark to help bridge the gap between an evolved digital world that was ushered in by the pandemic, and real-world, serendipitous encounters." 

Furthermore, in terms of the app's safety, Spark is employing Hive -- an AI moderation tool which strictly ensures that users are not uploading harmful and offensive  content on their profiles.

Similar to a friendship-making app called "Wink", Spark has a trust and safety team that operates within 24/7 and they have also employed a security expert to look for possible bogs, glitches, and vulnerabilities on the platform.

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Instant Number One

The new app has already "soft launched" in hundreds of countries and it instantly became number one in the IOS app store, particularly in Ireland and the Netherlands within a day.

Spark is free to use and download, however, it also includes a subscription option that lets users have access to its perks such as seeing everyone who liked them, some extra "sparks", and more features.

But since it is still a fresh release, Hofmann pointed out that the actual pricing and benefits will still be subject to change. As of now, a subscription costs around $19.99 per month, with additional discounts if you choose to subscribe for three or 12 months at a time.

How Hofmann Brought Back His "Spark"

As a former president at musical.ly, he is credited for building the foundation of Tiktok which is now rivaling social media giants such as Meta, Youtube, and Snapchat. When ByteDance acquired musical.ly for $1 billion in 2018, Hofmann decided to leave the company and become an investor.

However, the entrepreneur was keener on creating apps again.

Hence, he founded 9count which serves as the parent company to apps like Helpline, Juju, Wink, and Everland.

With Spark just recently launched, Hofmann takes on an ambitious task to take over the industry. Spark was launched with a 50,000 person-waitlist and is already popular in several countries.

If you want to try your hands on the app, you can find it on the App Store.

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Written by Joaquin Victor Tacla