We’re not recommending based on what’s trending. We’re looking at places where actual communities form. That cozy bookshop where people stay for hours? That’s a third place. That trendy Instagram cafe where everyone takes a photo and leaves? That’s not. We can tell the difference by looking at patterns - do people come back? Do they bring friends? Do they stay awhile? Do different groups of people keep showing up independently?
Think about your favorite coffee shop. Not the one with the best espresso technically, but the one where the barista knows your order, where you’ve had random conversations with strangers that turned into acquaintances, where you feel comfortable sitting for hours. That feeling - that’s what we’re trying to help people find.
We’re matching you with people through places, not the other way around. No swiping on profiles. No awkward “friend dating” where you’re judging someone based on their carefully curated bio. Instead, you see: “There are 5 people who love board games free Thursday nights in your area, and here’s a board game cafe that has a weekly meetup.” The place is the excuse. The activity is the social lubricant. The friendships happen naturally.
Or maybe you love specialty coffee but you’re tired of going to the same place. We show you a new cafe 15 minutes away that has the same vibe as your favorite spot - quiet enough to work, good music, people who actually care about their pour-over technique. And oh, there’s a Sunday morning coffee tasting event where a few other coffee nerds are going. You’re not being matched with those people directly - you’re all just interested in the same thing, at the same place, at the same time.
What This Actually Looks Like
You open the app. It knows you like coffee shops and board games, and that you’re usually free on weekends. Maybe you imported your Google Maps history, or you just tagged a few interests when you signed up.
The app shows you a board game night this Saturday at a cafe you’ve never heard of. Six people are going: three are regulars who have been attending for weeks, and three are new, like you. There’s a little event chat where someone says, “I’ll bring Catan; anyone have Ticket to Ride?” You say you’ll bring it. Saturday comes. You show up and play games for three hours with strangers who don’t feel like strangers because you already have this shared context.
The chat disappears the next day because the point was never the chat; it was the meeting. But you all agree to come back next week. Two weeks later, you’ve found your Thursday night crew. You’ve discovered a new coffee shop you love. You’ve built a habit that gets you off your couch.
Or maybe you’re into pickup basketball, but your usual court is often empty at random times. The app shows you a Sunday morning run at a court 10 minutes away, where 8 to 12 people regularly show up. You go once, then come back, and you’re in the rotation.
Or maybe you and three friends are trying to figure out where to meet. You’re all coming from different parts of the city. The app finds the midpoint and suggests a few places in that area that match all your vibes (not too loud, good for conversation, won’t rush you out after an hour) and splits the bill afterward. It’s not revolutionary; it’s just helpful.
The Hard Parts We’re Still Figuring Out
How do you measure if this is working?
Not by the time spent in the app—we actually want that to be low. Not by how many events you browse—we want you to find one good one and commit. We measure things like: did you go to a second event? Did you bring a friend the third time? Did you start showing up regularly without checking the app? Are you forming real relationships, or just attending events?
How do you get people to trust this? You’re asking them to share their location history, interests, and schedules—and potentially meet strangers. That’s a lot. We handle this by keeping data private (no ads, no selling your info, no tracking beyond what’s needed to recommend places), minimizing the social layer (disappearing group chats, no DMs, no profile browsing), and starting small with communities that already have some level of trust—neighborhoods, interest groups, friend-of-friend networks.
How do you make money without turning into every other app? We use a subscription model—you pay monthly, get discounts at partner venues, support local businesses, and we keep the lights on. No engagement tricks. No algorithmic manipulation to keep you scrolling. No dark patterns. Just a tool that genuinely wants to help you find your people and your places. If it works, you’ll pay for it because it adds value to your life, not your screen time.
Why This Might Actually Work
People want third places. They want consistent communities. They want to be regulars somewhere. They just don’t know where to start. Existing apps aren’t helping because they focus on attention, not connection.
We’re betting on something counterintuitive: familiarity breeds connection, not novelty. You don’t need to try 50 new restaurants. You need to find three places where you feel at home. You don’t need to meet 100 new people. You need to find 5 to 10 people you genuinely connect with and see them regularly.
The algorithm doesn’t recommend the hottest new restaurant across town that you’ll visit once and never return to. It recommends the cozy cafe 10 minutes away that you’d love if you knew it existed, where people like you already hang out. It’s not about discovering everything; it’s about discovering your thing.
Local businesses want this too. They want regulars, not tourists. Community organizers are tired of posting events on five different platforms, hoping someone shows up. We’re just making it easier for the right people to find each other.
What’s Next
Start small. One city. One community—maybe board game lovers in KL, maybe coffee enthusiasts in Jakarta, maybe pickup sports fans in Solo. Partner with a few venues who understand this. Get some organizers on board. Run a month of coordinated events. See if people come back. See if friendships form. See if it feels different from just another app announcement that gets ignored.
Then build the smarter algorithm once we have real data about what actually makes a third place work. Then expand to more interests, more neighborhoods, more cities. Always optimize for the same goal: not engagement metrics, but genuine human connection.
At the end of the day, we’re not building a social media platform. We’re creating a tool that helps you find where you belong in the real world. A tool that you use less as it works better. A tool that succeeds when you close it and go outside.
That’s the vision. Simple, maybe delusional, but worth trying.