RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – In March, as Detroit-based Plain Sight saw looming success for its mobile app designed to connect like-minded people at events, coffee shops, and shared workspaces, the pandemic hit hard.

Plain Sight had to pivot. Users can now find both virtual and physical spaces on the app, with physical locations showing their capacity limits, floor plan images, and other information. The shift worked well enough that the startup is expanding to fuel expansion to the Triangle and other markets.

CEO James Chapman, in an interview with WRAL TechWire, said the year-old startup is already vetting candidates for two positions in the Triangle. “We’ve already established contacts in the area, with Innovate Raleigh, American Underground, and regional chambers.”

Plain Sight logo

Plain Sight had a soft launch in June and has nearly 30 spaces listed on the platform throughout Detroit and Washington, D.C. In the next year, Chapman plans to expand to other cities he identifies as entrepreneurial centers in addition to Raleigh-Durham – Atlanta, New York City, and San Francisco.

“The times are really challenging,” Chapman said, “but people need to connect now more than ever.”

Success fuels expansion

For the first quarter of the rollout, the company saw an increase in downloads, active usage, retention, and check-ins in comparison to the previous quarter. They added more than 150 places, 4,000 users, and over 2,000 check-ins at local places in Detroit.

James Chapman, CEO, founder of Plain Sight. Plain Sight photo.

Plain Sight lists small businesses, networking groups, shared travel spaces, and shared workspaces across the country. The ​first 100 spaces to get listed in each city receive three free months on the platform. It charges a subscription fee for .listing a space, and price is determined by size and volume of the space.

Chapman moved to Detroit from Tennessee and spent the last three years as the director of entrepreneurship for the Quicken Loans Community Fund, the philanthropic arm of Detroit’s Quicken Loans.

He spearheaded the launch of the Quicken Loans Detroit Demo Day, an annual entrepreneurial pitch competition for Detroit-based businesses and those willing to relocate to the city. I

In three years, the program provided nearly $3.5 million in funding to businesses, most minority- and women-owned.

“Commercializing serendipity”

Chapman said the idea came to him while he operated a physical co-working space in Detroit, another example of his ideas about community building and entrepreneurial networking.

The company raised $1 million in funding from pre-seed angel investors, including the Quicken Loans Inc. chair. Chapman said Plain Sight is working on its next seed round, which it plans to launch in the first quarter next year, and expects to eventually raise $2 million to $3 million.

Previously, Chapman described the idea behind Plain Sight, which he says is “commercializing serendipity,” in a statement:

“The way we actually connect with people is still a broken process,” Chapman, said. “Nearly half a billion mobile workers around the world are missing out on profitable opportunities to connect because they are making blind decisions.

“Oftentimes, the exact person that we need to meet, the exact person that could open up a door for us to get on the other side of success, goes to the same coffee shop as us, is in the same airport, or at the same restaurant,” says Chapman. “They are hiding in plain sight. We are on a mission to eliminate any missed opportunities and help the go-getters of the world find their next thing – or the next big thing.”