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Locals
Social networking company
- 21-100 employees
- B2C
- Social
- Mobile
- Social Impact
- Community
- London, UK
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Company mission
To create a safe environment for people who want to meet new people, have fun, learn new things, feed their souls with emotions and build meaningful connections.
Our take
Locals is a platform dedicated to those that want to do good locally while having fun with new friends. The concept is based on a form of friends-only charity auction - a host sets up a meeting or joint experience for which anyone can offer any amount and the host then decides which bidder to meet and what the pastime is. 80% of the meeting funds go to charity and 20% to growing the platform. Connections are based shared passions and interests, but also prompted by a desire to support a cause that means a lot to them.
The founders have experienced backgrounds in social media, working with Facebook, and building charity apps. The company aims to partner with organisations who will monetise the platform on transaction fees, with paid options appearing later.
Locals has already established a community in London, featuring hundreds of diverse hosts and events, and will be looking to grow the company over the next few years and hoping for a social boom as people seek to find new interactions.
Steph
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Benefits
- Flexible paid time off. We coordinate with each other to make sure work and play find a healthy balance
- Annual care allowance for health&wellness and educational purposes
- Open culture and freedom to come up with fresh ideas and initiatives
- Work from anywhere - in the office, hybrid or fully remote
Company values
- WE BELONG OFFLINE - Real life is where we belong, where we meet new people and share what we love and care for
- LIFE = EXPERIENCES - Quality experiences allow us to enrich life even further and build real memories together
- EVERYONE COUNTS - Everyone can empower someone else for the better. This is what building a community means
Funding (1 round)
Jul 2023
$11m
SEED
Total funding: $11m
Leadership
Eugene Nevgen
(Co-Founder & CEO)In addition to founding Locals, they're the Investor for Flo Health Inc and the Co-Founder of Loona.
Natalia Vodianova
(Co-Founder)Supermodel and philanthropist. They're the Founder of multiple companies such as The Naked Heart Foundation, Elbi and Supernova.
Tom Afinsky
(Co-Founder)Background in media, digital and philanthropy. They're the Digital Advisor for for Natalia Vodianova and also the Co-Founder of Elbi.
Sergey Gonchar
(Co-Founder)Co-Founder of Locals, Loóna, MSQRD (acquired by Facebook, now Instagram Face-Filters). Forbes 30 under 30(Global). GQ Men of the Year — Business (Russia). They're the Co-Founder & CTO for Loona and a Partner for Bratte.
Office
Endorsements
All
Challenging work (1)
Meaningful work (1)
Inspiring mission (1)
The challenge is to allow our users the ability to make meaningful connections with likeminded individuals, but to do this is a seamless way. We are creating a product that people believe is an essential part of their lives and we will keep evolving it to perfection. Problem solving is key and the ability to see around issues, not allow issues to block your view of the goals.
Operations & Strategy
Challenging work
Feb 2021
Every hosted experience on Locals.org has a charity in mind. If you meet for coffee or to skydive you will be generating money for a cause your host cares about. During the COVID lockdown here in the UK it didn't stop us. We used ti to explore how we could deploy our community to help charities most in need too.
Operations & Strategy
Meaningful work
Feb 2021
I joined locals because of the mission. So many people are now looking to make meaningful connections in the world and be less superficial. Also every meeting raises money for a great cause so it is a win, win.
Operations & Strategy
Inspiring mission
Feb 2021