The Launchpad is a series that introduces Mashable readers to compelling startups. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.
Name: Wonderloop
One-Liner Pitch: Wonderloop helps you find interesting people by interest or location.
Why It's Taking Off: It's the first social network with video profiles and thus allows you to make the same type of first impression you would make in real life. The interactions are also open-ended — you might find friends, business partners or customers.
As a social media consultant in Norway, Hanna Aase kept on the pulse of new technologies. But her location didn't allow her to access others with shared interests — a common practice for those living in places like New York City or London. Aase predicted social media would change that and decided to take action herself.
See also: These 11 Apps Will Supercharge Your Personal Life
Two years later, Wonderloop is an iOS app currently in invite-only beta. Users can create video profiles limited to 20 seconds. The profile also includes your name, location and any number of tags. A user cannot browse profiles until their own is uploaded, but the video can be replaced at any time.

Aase's vision for Wonderloop is to create a search engine about people.
When you find someone interesting by searching using location or tags, users can message, favorite or introduce that person to another Wonderloop user. Aase says the reason she chose video profiles is because they come closer than anything else to mimicking real life.
"It doesn't take many seconds to get a first impression of somebody," she said.
The experience of using Wonderloop is a bit like Tinder. You can quickly check out a huge variety of people, but you're not tied down to a specific use case. Chatting with a developer in Spain is just as easy as meeting a blogger who lives in your neighborhood.
The benefit is not limited to people living in small towns and want access to people in cities. Aase says she "expects it to not finally matter that you live in a small town."
After her previous career in consulting business as governments on the next big thing in social media, Aase says her predictions were correct enough, giving her the confidence to create her own app.
Now, Aase's goal is to build the initial community in Wonderloop — not one of geeks like herself, she said, but of people with a variety of interests and ages. You can now request an invite on the website; users each are given three invitations to share.
Image: Flickr, Micurs