Geolocation services are on the rise: more and more start-ups are building applications around check-ins, places, events and social media. Hyperclap, a Moscow-based start-up, decided to join the trend and offer their take on how best to combine all those aspects in one app. Their iPhone app lets you follow locations like bars, restaurants and clubs and instead of checking-in to those places users report from locations through messages and photos. The idea behind Hyperclap is to give a tool for movers and shakers to see what's happening in their favorite locations when they are there or when they are away. The app also generates trending spots to display the most popular places in towns.

'With Hyperclap we wanted to move away from gamification and check-ins like in Foursquare', explains one of the founders Sergey Fayfer. 'Check-ins create a lot of noise pollution and lack substance whereas reporting from places with comments or photos brings in much more value and helps understand what's actually happening at a given event. Our vision is to help anyone anywhere know what's happening in their town, in their favorite places and with people they follow'.

Hyperclap was launched in July and attracted an undisclosed number of users from 9 countries, mostly Russia, US and UK. The team behind the service consists of three young Russian guys: Sergey Fayfer, Boris Yangel and Sergey Puchin. The first two of them are currently working for Yandex, while Sergey Puchin is employed by NVIDIA.

Hyperclap is bootstrapped and despite a few funding offers the team is in no hurry to acquire funding. 'We are still developing the product', explains Sergey Fayfer, 'it's too early for us to get funded'. Besides, Sergey notes that Moscow start-up ecosystem lacks mentors with expert knowledge who could really help an outward-looking company like themselves.

While Hyperclap can appear like yet another geolocation app, it marks a fresh development from the Russian market. It's definitely not a copycat, their main target market is US and their target group are movers and shakers of big cities. The hard part here is to be interesting and different enough from existing solutions to be noticed and get traction. How Hyperclap's team is going to be accomplish that remains to be seen.

Below are screenshots from the app: