Messagr is a “new presence-based search engine” that helps you find other skype users with similar interests to yourself. To participate you simply register yourself on messagr with your skype details and then add some tags that describe the topics you might like to chat about.
For example if you wanted to discuss music with someone right now, you could search for the term music or click on the tag cloud to find those people that were online (which is determined by their skype presence) and interested in music. You can then initiate a call or a chat session via skype. [note: the tag cloud dynamically updates as members change their Skype presence which is a feature I really like]
Of course there are similar services out there on the web such as Jyve which is more like Yahoo! Answers via Skype as opposed to a personal interest/tagged communication.
Speaking with Joel Selvadurai last night, a 22 year old computer science graduate from Durham University in Newcastle, he told me that he built messagr in less than 3 months from concept to beta using java, jsp and the SkypeWeb presence service.
“I am a single founder and am based in Marylebone in London. I am self funded and am looking for funding to take my idea further. I think there is great potential in this field of ‘presence search’. I shall be attending the Second Chance Tuesday event this coming Tuesday.”
What I really like about messagr is the fact that Joel has taken his idea to market without funding and in such a short space of time. This seems to be a trend right now with opensource software and intellectual capital combining to make ideas a reality or at least a proof of concept that helps VC’s envisage the the idea as a functional web application.