Flippie is aiming to rival Facebook and LinkidIn

A brand new social media site has been shortlisted for a prestigious national award just days after it launched.

Flippie, created by Suffolk entrepreneur Kieran Roper, will go head to head with other finalists for the title of Start Up of the Year at the Great British Entrepreneur Awards.

The site, which aims to rival the likes of Facebook and LinkedIn, went live just a week ago and already has thousands of people signed up.

Kieran,30, said: “You have to dream big, have faith and follow your heart to make it into the British entrepreneur’s hall of fame.

“And to receive recognition for what has been achieved with Flippie so soon after launching shows that my belief in the product is not misplaced.”

Flippie allows users to flip between a work and a play mode on a single screen – a concept which impressed investors who gave him a cash injection to design, build and market the platform.

Simon Burton, founder of the Great British Entrepreneur Awards, which is sponsored by NatWest, said Kieran was one of a number of entrants whose ventures would “create jobs, find innovation solutions and act as a driving force behind economic growth.”

Kieran, who lives in Westerfield, came up with the concept while studying interior design and architecture at Bournemouth University.

He said: “Flippie has the potential to revolutionise social media, especially in an era where time is money.

“It allows users to access their entire online existence within one space, managing both their work persona and their social life on a single screen.

“This has created something unique and solved many of the problems that exist within other sites.”

He said he was thrilled that the site had been so well-received since its launch.

Kieran said: “I hope it is something for Suffolk to be proud of. I am certainly proud of it and I am absolutely delighted that it is already being singled out as award-worthy.”

Kieran will find out if Flippie has won the title of Best Start Up at a glittering awards ceremony in London on November 25.

www.flippie.com.