Fizz, the school social app, is on the lookout for methods to reinforce and broaden its platform, and a current new rent is poised to assist drive these ambitions. The corporate has introduced on David Vasquez, who beforehand served as TikTok’s head of creator monetization and a product lead for TikTok Store, as Fizz’s new head of product.
With Vasquez’s assist, Fizz plans to construct out its suggestion system, have a look at increasing its market past peer-to-peer transactions with in-app funds, discover video content material additional, and open up its platform to promoting and model partnerships.
Vasquez got here throughout Fizz by means of his function as startup adviser and was drawn to the social app due to its concentrate on genuine, community-based content material. He was additionally impressed by the platform’s excessive retention price.
“You see quite a lot of social media apps that know the best way to develop actually shortly and go viral, however they don’t know the best way to retain their customers,” Vasquez advised TechCrunch. “Seeing that Fizz had those that had been that engaged gave me quite a lot of confidence that they had been on to one thing particular right here.”
Vasquez says he’s most enthusiastic about serving to Fizz construct out its suggestion engine, noting that one of many causes TikTok is so profitable is due to its capacity to place the fitting content material in entrance of the fitting person on the proper time. Vasquez desires to assist replicate that at Fizz, so the corporate is taking a look at methods to reinforce suggestions and personalize content material for customers.
“Personalization is absolutely necessary to us, and as we scale our person base, we see tendencies round various kinds of matters,” Vasquez mentioned. “So, after we can elevate sure tendencies, or we are able to personalize content material based mostly on what any person is partaking with, if you happen to’re partaking loads with sports activities content material, how can we present you extra of that kind of content material? We positively wish to diversify the content material that folks discuss and in addition personalize it to customers’ experiences.”
As well as, Vasquez plans to concentrate on increasing Fizz’s not too long ago launched peer-to-peer market utilizing insights he realized from scaling TikTok Store, particularly round how Gen Z likes to buy. For instance, Fizz may combine funds into its platform and in addition open up its market to manufacturers, he mentioned.
“The best way that customers purchase merchandise from one another right this moment is solely through DMs,” Vasquez mentioned. “There’s much more we may do there. We may take into consideration funds and permitting customers to transact on Fizz as effectively. And so, beginning to construct in that route, I believe is absolutely attention-grabbing for us, too. After which, interested by manufacturers as effectively, like, how can we combine e-commerce manufacturers into the Fizz market such that folks not solely are shopping for peer-to-peer merchandise, however perhaps they will even purchase merchandise from established manufacturers as effectively.”
Fizz can also be additional exploring video; one of many first adjustments Vasquez pushed for at Fizz was to extend the utmost size of movies that customers may share from 15 seconds to 30 seconds. After doing so, the platform has seen a 350% enhance in video content material creation on the platform.
The startup plans to proceed to push into video given Gen Z’s curiosity within the format. For now, Fizz goes to concentrate on quick, partaking content material and will broaden the utmost restrict to a minute sooner or later sooner or later.
The platform is now additionally open to model partnerships and is seeing quite a lot of curiosity from generative AI firms seeking to promote.
Fizz goes into 2025 sturdy: It has seen a 245% enhance in day by day posts because the begin of the yr. The platform has additionally seen a 61% enhance in day by day lively customers (DAUs). Vasquez says among the progress may be attributed to the uncertainty round TikTok’s future within the U.S. And Fizz isn’t the one one: Throughout Snap’s earnings name on Tuesday, CEO Evan Spiegel mentioned “the general setting of uncertainty [around TikTok] is benefiting our enterprise.”
Based in 2021, Fizz is now obtainable at greater than 300 schools and universities and has greater than 18 million posts on its platform. The startup has raised $41 million in funding thus far.
