Zofari, the self-proclaimed "Pandora for Places" app that says it helps users quickly find locations they'll love, is joining the Yahoo Search team, where it will "continue to build amazing discovery experiences at a scale we've only dreamed of."
In an announcement on its website, Zofari adds, "We can't talk about what we're working on yet but needless to say we are very, very excited."
In order to use the recommendation app, users give Zofari the name of a restaurant, bar, cafe, or neighborhood they like and, in turn, it shows them the most similar places around them. Using these preferred places, Zofari creates customized "stations." Results update whenever a user changes locations.
According to the Zofari website, the brand is creating a city genome that pulls in local public data, which it cleans, parses, and translates into indexable scores. Zofari then uses algorithms to find places with the most similar scores.
"We love the idea that cities are big living organisms that grow and interact according to underlying patterns," Zofari says. "By identifying those unique patterns and tying them to the places you already love, our hope is to help you explore in a whole new way."
Founded in 2012, Zofari says it was inspired by both Pandora and Netflix and its goal has been to deliver "brilliant local recommendations in the fastest way possible, and essentially, make the world an easier place to explore."
Users can still access the Zofari app on the App Store, Google Play, or via mobile Web.
According to Google Play, the app has 5,000 to 10,000 downloads.
Per TechCrunch, Zofari raised a $150,000 seed round from friends and family in 2013.
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