Pie Launches Community Homes to Connect People in Real Life

Pie, the social app from Bonobos’ founder Andy Dunn, is taking its mission to connect people in real life one step further. On Tuesday, the startup launched a new communities feature that allows people to establish more permanent homes for their social groups on its app, offering an alternative to group texts, Facebook Groups, and other technologies people use to stay in touch.

Pie was originally founded as an events app in Chicago, but has since expanded its mission to connect people in real life. With the launch of Community Homes, the company hopes to encourage its users to join communities where events are just one aspect of their connections. For related coverage, explore our detailed analysis on Technology and Digital Systems.

Key Analysis and Detailed Timeline

The update arrives at a time when younger people are looking to make more connections in the real world, after so many years of online socializing. Pie’s new digital group homepages will offer a place for organizers and group members to connect and build relationships beyond a single event.

The addition of Community Homes follows on other changes designed to make Pie less about the events themselves, and more about the people who attend them. Last December, for instance, Pie changed its activity feed to showcase who you knew who was going to an event, not just what events were being confirmed.

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Dunn says he was inspired to build the startup after moving from New York to Chicago, where he initially struggled to find community and friendship. At the same time, a movement around joining social clubs was gaining momentum with Gen Z.

Broader Impact and Sector Outlook

“Run clubs, art markets, watch parties– all these things that we’re hearing about in terms of the cultural movement towards being together again,” Dunn told TechCrunch. “And I felt like if we build software for those social clubs, we can create an environment and an ecosystem where people can start to run into other people and belong to communities and start to have deeper connections,” he added.

The launch of Community Homes marks a significant shift in Pie’s approach to connecting people in real life. With its new feature, the company hopes to create an environment where users can build meaningful relationships and connections beyond just events.

As the social landscape continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how Pie's Community Homes feature plays out. In the meantime, users can start exploring the new communities on the app and seeing what kinds of connections they can make.