Ex-Clubhouse workers take one more swing at a social networking startup | TechCrunch

Maya Watson and Lexi Nisita, cofounders of a original social app called why?!, met after they both worked at Netflix. They had a form of pleasant co-employee relationships, the place aside they laughed, and lawful vibed.

They were on the streaming big’s model and editorial groups and learned that their abilities complemented every other. “We are also both from Minnesota,” Watson mentioned. “We lawful trek together.”

The duo moved on to Clubhouse the place aside Watson became employee quantity 13 and Nisita became employee quantity 20. There to boot they constructed out the social platform’s editorial and model groups, but bigger than a one year into the job, they left to turn out to be co-founders.

“The place of work lawful began to the truth is feel more boring, empty, and fewer enjoyable,” Watson mentioned. They wished to repair that.

The stop result’s why?!, a original dialog app that’s portion messaging app, portion networking app, and portion dating app. The founders introduced on Wednesday that they’ve raised $1.65 million in a pre-seed spherical, led by Charles Hudson, managing partner and founding father of Precursor Ventures.

The app comes within the middle of what consultants are calling The USA’s “loneliness epidemic,” whereby folks savor choice to the truth is feel more isolated and disconnected from the folks around them.

Why?! seeks to succor folks join.

“We’ve interviewed and worked with some therapists and psychologists that helped us realize some of the important most important components of closeness,” Watson mentioned, announcing that folks desire to be in reciprocal, deep, and honest relationships.

There are already so many social media apps within the marketplace, but why?! hopes to stand out from the pack with its “simplicity and its intimacy.” It’s currently in non-public beta mode with plans to officially beginning within the autumn. It aspects build a question to card video games that may seemingly well seemingly furthermore be played by users in non-public chats; a each day build a question to on the stop of the dwelling feed; a Facetime-like feature for folks to discuss; and a weekly urged that asks folks what they’re currently as a lot as.

The title conception got right here from the app’s head of engineering. “We were searching out one thing that felt like an launch-ended build a question to,” Nisita mentioned. “The most neatly-liked and profound build a question to it is seemingly you will seemingly well seemingly ask any individual is … why? And then ask it another time, and another time.”

Watson also mentioned the fundraising direction of became “oddly pleasant” without a scare reports. ”Our cap table is amazing,” Watson mentioned. “As girls folks and a founding father of color, we the truth is feel fat fortunate and privileged that we were ready to device merchants that we like, we believe, we the truth is feel safe with, who every raise extraordinary wisdom and point of view.”

She mentioned at this stage, merchants are having a bet on her and Nisita as founders. They had critically of a rolling pre-seed spherical and started accumulating capital officially final summer season. They met Hudson, the investor who led the spherical, thru a legitimate friend who is in Hudson’s portfolio. Barclays Dim Foundation managed by Zeal Capital Companions, Virginie Raphael from FullCircle, and Mohammad Almalkwai, the CTO of Clubhouse, also participated within the spherical.

Being a founder is a protracted skill from the company cushion of a 9-5. Watson called it an spin, “the excellent quest and expedition.” For them, working at Clubhouse became like getting a PhD in startups, they mentioned.

“There became so noteworthy attention and competitors on the time that some of the important finest classes we learned became to tune out the noise, reduce again exterior distractions, non-public your head down and focal point on your users and your mission,” Watson mentioned, including that Netflix taught them the importance of making a shimmering working environment. “Most steadily startups don’t take into memoir custom this early, but attributable to of our time there, we prioritize it now. We desire to operate the actual stipulations for achievement.”

Upright now, there are four rotund-time folks on the firm and they’re hoping to hire more engineering enhance because the app officially launches and grows its particular person dreadful.