Andy Dunn’s new app Pie uses AI to help you make friends – TechCrunch
Latest
AI
Amazon
Apps
Biotech & Health
Climate
Cloud Computing
Commerce
Crypto
Enterprise
EVs
Fintech
Fundraising
Gadgets
Gaming
Government & Policy
Hardware
Layoffs
Media & Entertainment
Meta
Microsoft
Privacy
Robotics
Security
Social
Space
Startups
TikTok
Transportation
Venture
Events
Startup Battlefield
StrictlyVC
Newsletters
Podcasts
Videos
Partner Content
TechCrunch Brand Studio
Crunchboard
Contact Us
“We’re a long way from pants,” Andy Dunn, founder of online fashion retailer Bonobos, told TechCrunch. Now, the former CEO is taking on a completely different challenge: He wants to help people make friends.Dunn’s newest venture, Pie, is a social app focused on bringing people together in real life. With an $11.5 million Series A raise and the funds to pay organizers to host events, Pie has grown to over 130,000 monthly active users, despite only being available in San Francisco and Chicago. But more users meant that the in-person events hosted through the app were also getting more crowded, making it harder for people to connect.The young company was faced with a problem: If hundreds of people show up to an event, how do guests know who to talk to? How can they make friends when they walk into a busy room, surrounded by strangers?“This is the beauty of building a startup,” Dunn said. “A solution creates a problem.”Luckily, a possible fix for this problem wasn’t hard to find. Two event organizers on Pie were already working together to build a tool called Sparked Connections, an AI-powered quiz that tries to predict who people will get along with best at a given social event. Pie acqui-hired the two founders, Samir Mahafzah and Sam Stubbs, and folded the quiz into certain gatherings, which are branded as “Sparked by Pie.”At Pie’s “Coffee with Strangers” event, for example, each person who RSVPs will take a short personality test, where respondents rate how much they agree with a given sentiment on a scale of 1 to 5. These prompts are varied, and include things like: Are you willing to sacrifice stability to pursue a passion? Do you believe in astrology? Do you pray? Do you vote? Do you have any toxic traits?Before the event, the quiz’s algorithm divides respondents into groups of six, based on who the AI thinks is most likely to get along. Then, those six people are placed into a group chat on Pie, where they can get to know each other before the event.“We’re starting to power it through [ChatGPT]. And then when we get feedback loops of who connects with who, and who invites people to stuff, we’ll start to see, well, why do people hit it off?” Dunn said. “And I think that’s such a dark art that without the AI inflection point, I think it would be an almost unsolvable problem.”With increasing concerns around Americans’ level of loneliness, it may seem depressing that we need algorithms to help us make friends. But if you’ve ever connected with a new friend via Instagram, or dated someone from Bumble, then you’ve already let AI into your social life.Topics
Reporter
Amanda Silberling is a senior writer at TechCrunch covering the intersection of technology and culture. She has also written for publications like Polygon, MTV, the Kenyon Review, NPR, and Business Insider. She is the co-host of Wow If True, a podcast about internet culture, with science fiction author Isabel J. Kim. Prior to joining TechCrunch, she worked as a grassroots organizer, museum educator, and film festival coordinator. She holds a B.A. in English from the University of Pennsylvania and served as a Princeton in Asia Fellow in Laos.Send tips through Signal, an encrypted messaging app, to (929) 593-0227. For anything else, email amanda@techcrunch.com. YouTube launches a $7.99 per month, ad-free Premium Lite subscription
Kevin Rose, Alexis Ohanian acquire Digg
Judge rejects Musk’s attempt to block OpenAI’s for-profit transition
Aspiration co-founder and board member defrauded investors of $145M, prosecutors say
Amazon reportedly forms a new agentic AI group
Klarna CEO doubts that other companies will replace Salesforce with AI
Mach Industries, founded by 21-year-old Ethan Thornton, lands US Army contract, builds weapons factory
Subscribe for the industry’s biggest tech newsEvery weekday and Sunday, you can get the best of TechCrunch’s coverage.TechCrunch’s AI experts cover the latest news in the fast-moving field.Every Monday, gets you up to speed on the latest advances in aerospace.Startups are the core of TechCrunch, so get our best coverage delivered weekly.By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice.© 2024 Yahoo.
Source: https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/04/andy-dunns-new-app-pie-uses-ai-to-help-you-make-friends/
