Lanzarote's Judit Hernández and Asturias' Rubén Abella are a couple and also business partners. Last year, they created the company Snipe in Lanzarote, recognized as a startup by the Ministry of Industry, and a few weeks ago they made it available to the public for download. Their goal is to reach one million downloads in the next twelve months.
The Lanzarote-based start-up has been included in the Canary Islands Business Angels Network (an Anglo-Saxon term referring to patrons of innovative companies) and was selected for an international start-up event held in Salamanca, among other national recognitions.
In an interview with Ekonomus, Abella explains how the platform allows anyone, although it is designed primarily with young people and artists in mind, to launch short videos with products for sale and 48-hour auctions"Highlight the value and history of the product, beyond the economic transaction"
Ruben Abella explains that the business idea arose during the Covid era, during a trip to the peninsula. "Judit's daughter, who was already a teenager, like many kids her age, spent a lot of time on social media and received nothing in return. We thought of giving value to all the time invested in social media and creating Snipe."
Before launching it, Judit and Rubén presented the idea to a team of psychologists from Madrid who specialize in high performance. “They really liked the idea, they validated the project for us and recommended that we focus on the value and story of the products, beyond the economic transaction”.
Thus, little by little they gave it shape. “We wanted a digital platform that would serve for personal development, without social biases. With Snipe there is no social validation, likes or comments, but a way to benefit from your time on social media. That's why buyers are not visible, but private”.
When asked if platforms like Vinted inspired his business idea, Abella explains that they have nothing to do with each other. "It's not competition. Vinted is a marketplace for selling second-hand clothes. Snipe is a video and auction format with cultural content where you can sell art, for example."
How does the app work?
Creators pay nothing, and buyers cover shipping costs. In a few months, they have developed a "door-to-door business with integrated auctions, payments, and logistics, something Wallapop (a platform that sells second-hand items) took four or five years to achieve," shares the CEO of Snipe.
The platform is available throughout the national territory and Andorra, and deliveries are guaranteed within a maximum of 48 hours on the peninsula, where shipping costs between seven and eight euros. Abellá acknowledges that it will take longer in the Canary Islands, "as with any business, logistics on the islands are more complicated and shipping is more expensive".
To encourage Snipe to also be used in Lanzarote and between islands, the company will subsidize the inter-island logistics costs, "which cost 20 euros, but we will charge eleven".
Fortunately, sellers on Snipe "don't compete on price, but on meaning. The buyer not only receives a package, but also a story, a previous experience, plus a thank-you video from the seller," shares Abellá.
Team, internships for young people from Lanzarote, and funding
In addition to Judit, who is in charge of process control and user relations, and Rubén in management and strategy roles, Iván Corrés also works at Snipe, directing remote operations from Barcelona, while the technological development team is in Zaragoza.
They will soon offer internships to young people from Lanzarote: "We had a meeting with the Haría Institute with the students in the Technological Development Vocational Training program and also with Zonzamas from Arrecife to have several students for internships".
When asked how they generate revenue with the platform, Abellá explains that they charge a 5% commission on sales. "If a product sells for 100, we give the seller 95 and the buyer pays 110, to cover shipping." Other revenue streams include subscriptions and advertising videos.Furthermore, "while Meta, Instagram, and others exploit the sale of your data opaquely, or the case of Vinted, which has stopped charging sellers 'because it generates income with three data factories'," Snipe, thanks to a grant from the Canary Islands Government for innovation, "is developing a product to reinvest in users."
The revenue generated from the sale of data to companies that comply with EU legislation will be used to offer "a predictive artificial intelligence service that will accompany users in their personal and financial development".