L.A. Startup Launches Matchmaker For Business

Match.com meets LinkedIn in Zenvoy, a business matchmaking platform that introduces people who should meet — like a dating site, only based on what users do for a living, not whether they enjoy long walks on the beach.

Here’s how it works: Users complete a profile, answering questions that include their professional specialty, industry, age, experience and location. A proprietary algorithm takes it from there, making connections between users with mutually beneficial needs.

For example, the platform might match a middle-market clothing company CEO with an investment banker in the apparel space.

The Los Angeles startup is formally launching this week with 3,500 organizations in 1,300 cities, including L.A. and New York, already using the service.

Zenvoy aims to streamline networking for businesspeople — a practice that in the past has required fighting traffic to attend events that too often yield too few meaningful connections.

“Research shows that one-on-one networking is more beneficial than ‘working a room’ at an event,” Zenvoy co-founder and COO Bill Webster said in a statement. “If you live and die by referral-based business, Zenvoy can supercharge your networking value by bringing targeted business introductions right to your email inbox.”

Businesspeople can use Zenvoy as an individual or in a private group created by an association, conference or other professional community. The platform can even be “white-labeled” so groups own their members and branding.

Organizers can also plan events through Zenvoy to enable purposeful networking and to time introductions within their networks for maximum efficiency.

Source: L.A. Biz, Annlee Ellingson
Photo: Match.com meets LinkedIn in Zenvoy, a business matchmaking platform that introduces professionals who should meet.