Pie Evolves From Events App to Social Network With New Communities Feature
The Pie social app, created by Bonobos founder Andy Dunn, is shifting its focus from events to building lasting communities. The startup announced on Tuesday the launch of Community Homes, a new feature that allows users to create permanent digital spaces for their social groups. This update transforms the Pie social app into more of a social network, offering an alternative to group texts and Facebook Groups.
Originally founded as an events app in Chicago, the Pie social app has grown to approximately 300,000 users. It is backed by prominent investors including Forerunner, Lightspeed, Accel, and angels like Twitter co-founder Ev Williams. With its latest feature, the company hopes to encourage users to join communities where events become a natural outcome of connections rather than the main draw.
How the Pie Social App’s Community Homes Feature Works
The new Community Homes feature provides group homepages where organizers and members can connect and build relationships beyond a single event. Each community home includes its own feed and group management tools, such as admin controls, membership management, a shareable homepage, and event planning resources. Unlike other platforms, anyone can share events to the group’s feed, not just admins, which allows for more natural networking among members.
The Pie social app plans to add group chats soon, along with another feature that would let members post casual bids for connection. Users could ask if anyone wants to “hang out and craft together” or watch the “Love Island reunion,” for example, without having a particular plan in mind. This approach encourages spontaneous social interactions and makes it easier for people to connect organically.
The Shift Toward Real-World Connections
The update arrives at a time when younger people are increasingly seeking real-world connections after years of online socializing. Instead of relying solely on social media apps, they’re looking for digital tools that lead to genuine in-person interactions. The Pie social app is positioning itself to meet this demand by providing a platform that facilitates meaningful community building.
Last December, the Pie social app changed its activity feed to showcase who you knew who was attending an event, rather than just which events were being announced. After this change, time on the app grew from 2 minutes to 10 minutes. More recently, the Pie social app launched a “favorites” feature that lets users build out their public profiles by adding their favorite interests, further personalizing the experience.
Inspiration Behind the Pie Social App’s Evolution
Andy 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 among Gen Z.
“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, dubbing the Pie social app a sort of “Reddit for IRL.”
New Leadership and Future Vision
The company has since added Nadya Okamoto, who founded a popular run club called Zoomies in New York, as a co-founder and CMO. Her experience building real-world communities brings valuable perspective to the Pie social app‘s mission.
“I would say [Pie is] more like the original promise of Facebook and Reddit — if it wasn’t anonymous and toxic,” she said, referring to Reddit. “Rather than leading with events, which is what so many other great platforms do, I think events are more a product of having a great community-building ecosystem on the app.”
Where the Pie Social App Is Gaining Traction
While the Pie social app is available anywhere, it has more traction in key markets like Chicago, New York, and LA at present. Its growing user base of around 300,000 people suggests there’s demand for this new approach to social networking. As younger generations continue to seek authentic in-person connections, the Pie social app‘s focus on community building rather than just events could help it stand out in the crowded social app landscape.
The evolution of this Pie social app reflects a broader shift in how people use technology to build meaningful relationships. By moving away from purely event-driven functionality toward community-centered features, the Pie social app is positioning itself as a platform that prioritizes genuine human connection over digital interaction for its own sake.
