About us
Our Story
It all started when two business and software engineer students crossed paths while training at the gym in Germany in 2020. A conversation that started with weights and workout routines turned into a sincere dialogue about how friendships are built and their importance in constructing one's identity.
But then the pandemic came, and with it came isolation. That dialogue about friendship became more intense when we realised how difficult it was now to build new friendships. We saw in ourselves and our uni peers how social anxiety made it difficult to create new social relationships. This affected our state of mind, and therefore the achievement of life goals.
As a result, in 2021, Connou was born. It is a product that fosters connections in real life by creating connections online first with the goal of creating social ties that build a community of people in which one can develop and grow healthily and happily.
Our Mission
We students have experienced loneliness at university too often.
There are a few reasons for that, but among others, some of us haven't found like-minded humans on campus due to either social anxiety caused by almost 2 years of social isolation during a formative period for young adults or the limitations of physicality (it isn't easy to get to know other students from other faculties on a daily uni routine).
We want to enable young students to
discover the world through other people's perspectives
to facilitate their personal growth and create strong personal connections.And we want that to happen in a physical context.
Connou is not about digital relationships, but real life ones!
Our values
Our user base, university students from all over the world is incredibly diverse, and so is our team. This is critical to go above and beyond when serving students, possibly the most diverse and dynamic demographic in the world.
"We are all in this together." Students succeed academically when they feel like they are part of a university culture. The best innovations and ideas are made in teams - just as students learn best in groups.
Going to university is a commitment. Likewise, welcoming students to your university is a commitment. We are committed to serving your students and being part of the bilateral commitment between a university and its students.
Learning requires courage. Students learn best when they leap out of their comfort zone in a supportive environment with people they form strong connections with. We strive to help them do just that.
Universities are always moving forward. Their students are probably in the biggest growth period of their lives. Our mission is to help both students and universities achieve this growth together.
Everyone wants to be happy, and every university wants happy students. We understand that starting university can be overwhelming, which is why we prioritise improving student happiness by enabling student connections.
The team
We are based in Dußlingen, Germany, but our team lives and works all
around the world, which helps us to enrich our perspective on our product.
Co-Founder
Germany
Co-Founder
Germany
Co-Founder
Germany
UX/UI Designer
Mexico
UX/UI Designer
Ireland
UX/UI Designer
Dominican Republic
UX/UI Designer
Portugal
Flutter Developer
Egypt
Data Engineer
India
DevOps & Co-Founder
Germany
Web Developer
Nigeria
CTO & Co-Founder
Germany
Data Engineer
Nigeria
Backend Developer
Nigeria
Flutter Developer
Nigeria
Data Scientist
India
Data Engineer
Philippines
Flutter Developer
Egypt
Co-Founder
Germany
Marketing Manager
Vietnam
Confirmed
In conversation