14-02-2025
Thousands of people are making new friends through Charlotte-founded app Linxy
Linxy Live is a location-based app that founders Joel Puthoff and Leo Adams describe as "LinkedIn meets Pokemon Go."
Why it matters: The app, founded in Charlotte, is designed to help people make connections while skipping the small talk.
How it works: Linxy shows you people who are online and nearby who are open to making a connection at one of several local businesses partnering with the app.
Some examples of meet-up spots include local coffee shops like Giddy Goat, breweries like Sycamore, restaurants like Community Matters Cafe and other third spaces like Rally.
The app also allows businesses to host events for users to make connections.
What they're saying:"Imagine going into an event where you can instantly find the person in the room that shares interests that you have," says Adams. "This will help you get to know who is most aligned with you so you can spark a conversation."
Once you download the app, you identify the type of interactions you want by selecting from a list of adjectives under their "social linx" section, which is split into three categories: leisure, professional and curiosities.
Then you'll go to the Linxy map (similar to a Snapchat map) to see where other users are gathered.
Once you arrive at one of their partnered locations, you'll be able to see a score of how compatible you are with other people in that area before you approach them or message them in the app.
The big picture: Making friends as an adult can be challenging so Puthoff and Adams designed the app to jumpstart the process by allowing people to connect over similar interests instantly.
"Everyone develops these ideas of people before they even know them so we're trying to redirect people to see the similarities compared to seeing the differences," Puthoff said.
The app is free for users. Businesses can pay $50-$250 to become a patterned Linxy location.
Users can also host events through the app for $28.
By the numbers: Over 2,200 people in Charlotte are already using the app.
They recently launched in Miami, Cincinnati and Chicago.
What's next: Linxy Live will eventually expand into other cities in the coming months.
It'll launch in Raleigh this April.
