If Tinder and Meetup had a baby, it would be Squad, a newly-launched app that’s more about making friends than hooking up for a night. The app offers a fun and easy way for groups of two to six friends to meet other groups in their area, and if there’s romance in the air, then great. If not, at least you’ve made a few new friends.
Like Tinder, individuals create profiles and squads via Facebook, or invite friends to join their squad through the built in text message feature in the app. After a squad is created, users can customize their profiles with collective squad names and individual profiles on each member – featuring first name, occupation, age, school network, and photo. Once a squad profile is created, an internal group chat opens and users can begin to see other local squad profiles and swipe yes or no on the squads they’d like to meet with in-person. When squads match, a shared chat will open and users have 24 hours to exchange details and make fun plans to meet up and hang out.
Adam Liebman is the Co-Founder and CEO of Squad, which just launched on Tuesday in the New York metro area. Prior to Squad, Liebman was at Yext and SinglePlatform.
With the proliferation of dating apps these days, Squad is a welcome breath of fresh air. Liebman tells me the app came about after a trip to Montreal with friends and the desire to meet people, but without romance.
“Three of us weren’t single, but we wanted to meet cool people and still have a fun night out in the city. What ended up happening was me “hacking” my Tinder profile to include not just solo shots of me, but instead, group shots of me and the same three others I was with. We also changed the bio section to let people know we were only in town for the weekend, and just looking to hang out and have fun.
“We ended up matching with some incredible people, had an absolute blast of a night, and realized nothing in the market could create this kind of amazing experience night after night,” says Liebman.
Having launched on Oct. 20 in NYC only, Liebman is confident that New Yorkers (reportedly the worst city to date) are the perfect market for Squad to launch. “So many people come to New York be it for career, school or a new adventure yet they don’t have a network in place or come with friends. Squad makes it easy to meet people outside of traditional means, like work or dating apps, and lets users expand their network without the uncomfortable awkwardness of meetups or one-on-one interactions.”
While Taylor Swift may have ruined the word for you, Squad is a surprisingly cringe-less new app perfect for new New Yorkers or those just looking to make a few new buds.
You can download Squad here.