Loneliness is an epidemic facing young professionals in big cities today. To combat this, entrepreneurs Nicola Gunby and Jason Iliffe have launched CLIQ, a social networking app connecting users to local communities and events based on shared interests. After exiting their previous business, the founders were inspired by Nicola’s own struggles adjusting to new cities. CLIQ aims to make meeting new people easy, fun, and stigma-free.
Nicola and Jason previously exited their business to focus on solving the loneliness pandemic by connecting people online and offline through like-minded communities.
“We live in an era where we mistake likes for connections and followers for friends”, affirms co-founder Nicola Gunby of her latest business venture. CLIQ, known on social media as @findyourcliq, is a social networking and community app that strives to transform our online connections into authentic encounters. “Current social media apps aren’t encouraging us to be social, most of them are solely entertainment apps that keep us scrolling.” Amidst this challenging social media landscape, second-time co-founders Nicola Gunby and Jason Iliffe are encouraging users to find their clique.
The idea was prompted by Nicola’s own social journey and relocations around the world. “CLIQ is so relatable to the experiences that I have been through in my life,” including quitting University after struggling to make friends and moving to Melbourne with zero contacts. “Coming back to my hometown three years later wasn’t any easier, as everything had changed.” Like many young professionals, Nicola and Jason took the leap and moved to London after the acquisition of their first business – where fostering real connections proved more challenging than expected.
This is where CLIQ’s mission serves to break the stigma around meeting new people, whilst making it easy, fun and importantly, free of charge. The platform prides itself on creating an inclusive community that transcends the online limits, welcoming any gender and age group. No matter where you call home, CLIQ is a space where you are able to meet like-minded people and share the countless hobbies and interests that resonate with you. Currently, the app is UK-wide, with large user bases across many major cities. The CLIQ team plans to expand its reach overseas to Europe and the US in the near future.
After amassing thousands of users in the first month, CLIQ has brought together hundreds of communities that all consist of like-minded people. These users all share the same hopes of solidifying new friendships in their respective cities. Users of CLIQ can vary from any stage of their education or career trajectory, expanding the avenues for possible connection. Ranging from running clubs to social clubs, many of CLIQ’s community events distribute the maximum capacity after only four minutes. This pays testament to the wide range of users eager to meet their clique.
CLIQ hopes to transform the socialising scene in big cities: facilitating communities online but ultimately pushing them offline.
CLIQ remains unique in that it combines personalised user profile with matching communities and events in your specific location. The platform strives to generate a sense of welcome and belonging, over merely being another number on an event sign-up sheet.
Nicola and Jason have big plans for the future. The team’s mission is to be the one-stop shop that anybody needs to run their community. Whether it is management tools or ways that they can help people grow and scale their communities through brand partnerships, CLIQ is looking for innovative ways to grow its reach and also grow the amazing communities. “The dream of a community owner is to work with brands, but it can be hard to find those connections and the time to facilitate that”, adds Nicola.
Nicola and Jason built CLIQ to tackle the widespread sentiment of loneliness often felt when moving to a new city. “Ultimately, it is much easier to meet somebody in a group setting when you know that people are going to have the same interests as you and you are all there for the same reason.”
An app that promotes socialising, meeting like-minded people and finding your place in hundreds of communities? CLIQ brings all of these to the table and more.
