Investor Overview
Purpose-built for offline experiences and real friendships.
ESCAPE turns daily interests into real-life friendships. Not another feed to scroll, but a platform that gets people off their phones and into the same room. Event discovery, community building, AI matching, and organizer tools for attendees, organizers, venues, and community leaders.
The problem
A loneliness epidemic
hiding in plain sight.
U.S. adults report feeling lonely regularly, with young adults (18–34) hit hardest.
Annual cost of social isolation in healthcare spending in the U.S. alone.
People use separate tools for events, chat, matching, and communities, none designed to work together.
Social media optimizes for screen time, not real connection. You can have 500 Instagram followers and nobody to grab coffee with. Matching apps end at the swipe. Event platforms stop at the RSVP. Nobody is building the platform that gets people from discovery to actually showing up, then turning that into lasting friendships.
Why now
Five tailwinds converging.
Post-pandemic social hunger
People crave in-person connection more than ever. The experience economy is booming.
Loneliness recognized as crisis
The U.S. Surgeon General declared loneliness an epidemic. Governments are funding solutions.
Gen Z rejects passive scrolling
Younger users are leaving legacy social media for purpose-built, intentional platforms.
AI enables personalization
Compatibility matching, smart recommendations, and community insights are now possible at scale.
Creator/organizer tools gap
Organizers still duct-tape 5 tools together. An integrated platform captures the entire value chain.
Global multi-currency rails
Stripe Connect and modern payment infra enable one platform to serve 32+ countries from day one.
The solution
From discovery to showing up.
One platform. Four audiences.
Attendees
Discover events, join communities, meet compatible people, build real friendships
14 core features
Organizers
Multi-tier tickets, 12 currencies, QR check-in, promo codes, waitlist, revenue dashboard
14 core features
Venues
Claim & verify, map listing, event cross-promotion, service marketplace, reviews
10 core features
Communities
5 types, member roles, moderation, questionnaires, announcements, analytics, chat
13 core features
Market opportunity
A massive market waiting
for a unified solution.
TAM
$52B
Global events & experience economy
Events, ticketing, experiences, community platforms
SAM
$12B
Social event discovery & community tools
Meetup, Eventbrite, Geneva, Luma combined market
SOM
$800M
Interest-based social platforms in target markets
English + multilingual markets, 18–45 demographic
Traction
Early signals.
—
Monthly Active Users
Coming soon
—
Events Hosted
Coming soon
—
Communities Created
Coming soon
—
App Downloads
Coming soon
—
MoM Growth
Coming soon
—
Avg. Session Duration
Coming soon
Platform scale (live)
300+
Features shipped
197
Countries supported
15
Languages, 100% translated
12
Currencies accepted
236+
Event subcategories
60+
Lambda functions
22
Feature modules (mobile)
5,000+
Tests passing
Competitive moats
Other apps keep you online.
ESCAPE gets you there.
Social networks optimize for screen time. Event platforms stop at the RSVP. Matching apps end at the swipe. ESCAPE is purpose-built so every feature drives real-world, in-person connection.
| Capability | Event Platforms | Social Networks | Matching Apps | Offline / Interest | ESCAPE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interest-based group activities | △ | — | — | ||
| Weak ties → real friendships | — | △ | — | △ | |
| Host or join your own routines | △ | — | — | △ | |
| Daily life & schedule driven | — | — | — | — | |
| Verified, real-identity profiles | △ | — | △ | △ | |
| Integrated ticketing & promotion | — | — | — | ||
| AI recommendation & personalization | — | — | △ | — | |
| High repeat engagement | △ | — | — | △ | |
| Community management tools | △ | △ | — | — | |
| Venue & business tools | — | △ | — | — | |
| All-in-one experienceOnly | — | — | — | — |
1/11
Event Platforms
+5 partial
0/11
Social Networks
+3 partial
0/11
Matching Apps
+2 partial
1/11
Offline / Interest
+4 partial
11/11
ESCAPE
Feature-level detail
Head-to-head on 30 specific features.
| Feature | ESCAPE | Meetup | Eventbrite | Bumble BFF | Timeleft | ClassPass | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Discovery & Events | |||||||
| Event discovery & RSVP | Partial | Curated | Credits | ||||
| Interactive map with places | Basic | — | — | ||||
| Broad categories (12+) & 236+ subcategories | — | — | Fitness only | ||||
| Recurring events (auto-generated) | — | ||||||
| Near Me with adjustable radius | City only | City only | City only | ||||
| Social & Matching | |||||||
| At-event mutual interest with intent selectionOnly | Post-event | — | — | — | — | ||
| AI compatibility scoring (8 dimensions)Only | — | — | — | Basic | Quiz-based | — | |
| Real-time chat (DMs + groups) | Paid only | — | Basic | — | |||
| Connection graph & mutual friends | Partial | — | Partial | — | Basic | ||
| Post-event memories & photos | — | — | — | — | |||
| Communities | |||||||
| Community spaces with posts & chat | — | Partial | — | — | |||
| 5 community types (Groups, Venues, Businesses, Universities, Instructors)Only | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Member roles & custom types | — | — | — | — | |||
| Moderation tools & audit log | Basic | — | Basic | — | — | ||
| Join questionnaires with conditional logicOnly | No logic | 3 max | — | — | — | ||
| Community analytics | Pro plan | — | — | — | — | ||
| Ticketing & Payments | |||||||
| Multi-currency ticketing (12 currencies) | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| Multi-tier tickets (General, VIP, Student) | — | — | — | — | |||
| QR check-in at the door | — | — | — | — | |||
| Apple & Google Wallet passes | — | Apple only | — | — | — | — | |
| Promo codes & waitlist | Promos only | — | — | — | Waitlist | ||
| Revenue dashboard & CSV export | Basic | — | — | — | — | ||
| 7 configurable refund policiesOnly | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| Venues & Business Tools | |||||||
| Venue claim & verification | — | — | — | — | Apply only | ||
| Service listings with paymentsOnly | — | — | Marketplace | — | — | ||
| Registration forms (10 types + conditional logic) | No logic | — | — | — | — | ||
| Platform | |||||||
| 15 languages, 100% translatedOnly | 12 langs | 16+ langs | Partial | Partial | |||
| iOS + Android + Web | Mobile only | ||||||
| Free for attendees | Paid DMs | Paid | Subscription | ||||
| Passwordless auth (phone OTP)Only | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Total | 30/30 | 11/30 | 13/30 | 15/30 | 5/30 | 2/30 | 5/30 |
8 features you won't find anywhere else
At-event mutual interest with intent selection · AI compatibility scoring (8 dimensions) · 5 community types (Groups, Venues, Businesses, Universities, Instructors) · Join questionnaires with conditional logic · 7 configurable refund policies · Service listings with payments · 15 languages, 100% translated · Passwordless auth (phone OTP)
Business model
Multiple revenue streams.
Diversified monetization across B2C and B2B with both transactional and recurring revenue.
Ticketing Fees
Platform fee on paid event tickets. 12 currencies, Stripe Connect payouts.
Vibe In-App Purchase
Consumable vibes for mutual-interest matching. 3 free per event, packs from $6.99.
Service Marketplace
Transaction fee on community service bookings (classes, consulting, venue bookings).
B2B Subscriptions
Premium tools for organizers, venues, and community leaders. Enhanced analytics and promotion.
AI Reports
Premium AI-generated compatibility reports and social insights. Per-purchase or subscription.
Promoted Listings
Sponsored events, featured communities, and promoted venues in discovery feeds.
Founder
Hyeseong Jun
CEO & Founder
Founder building ESCAPE from zero: product, engineering, design, and growth. Shipped 300+ features across Flutter, Node.js, Next.js, and Python. Previously at University of Waterloo and University of Toronto ecosystems.
LinkedInBuilt with support from
Seen at
Community partners
Vision
A world where no one feels bored or alone.
Social media keeps people scrolling. ESCAPE gets people showing up. We're building the infrastructure for offline human connection: the platform that turns every interest, every neighborhood, and every free evening into a real friendship.
Now
Foundation
Events, communities, ticketing, AI matching, and organizer tools in 15 languages across 197 countries.
Next
Network effects
B2B subscriptions, promoted listings, deeper AI personalization, and partnerships with venues and brands.
Future
Offline social infrastructure
The default platform for how people turn daily interests into real-life friendships, globally.
Let's build the platform
for offline connection.
We're looking for partners who believe the antidote to loneliness isn't more screen time. It's showing up. Help us scale that globally.