This investment is a significant milestone for the company and a testament to our vision for the future of community organisation. Our business is built on the thesis that "the decline of Facebook among young people will leave behind whitespace" which so far is proving to be true. Lounge is used on almost every major university campus in the UK and Ireland, with early usage in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
Lounge, founded by Wulfie Bain and Jack Symonds, empowers users to create and organise communities, host events, discover groups, and more.
The platform doesn’t have a newsfeed, instead focussing on facilitating connection between real people and communities. As society increasingly recognises the negative impact of traditional social media on mental health, Lounge offers an alternative where user wellbeing is put first.
So far more than a quarter of a million people have used the platform.
Investment Round
The recent investment round was led by Square Peg with participation from Carthona Capital as well as private investors.
Commenting on the fundraise, Co-founder, Jack said, "Square Peg is a globally renowned, independently-minded, lead investor with a portfolio that speaks for itself containing the likes of Canva, Stripe, Airwallex, LottieFiles and more. There was an instant respect and cultural fit that has continued and improved since the first meeting. We were also incredibly fortunate to have Carthona Capital join us from day one. They have added value essentially every four weeks since we started, and they doubled down on their investment in the second round - you can't ask for more".
Dean Dorrell from Carthona Capital said, "Jack and Wulfie came to us with just an idea 18 months ago, and now they have a widely-used product in multiple countries. It’s been great to see the consistent progress."
Dan Krasnostein from Square Peg echoed the sentiment, emphasising, "The team is extremely high calibre, moving incredibly fast, and they are winning market share every day. Each call has significant updates - it’s really exciting."
The Path Forward
With this significant injection of funds, the business’ primary focus is on expanding the team and taking the platform to the next level of maturity.
Co-founder, Wulfie, said: “Most of our competitors are multi-billion dollar companies or oligopolies - so consumer standards for product are high. The team is really focused on improving the platform every day and strengthening our points of difference from our competitors. We’re lucky to have investors who have gone through this journey before and provide invaluable advice.”
As we look to the future, Lounge is excited to continue shaping the landscape of community organisation for Gen Z and beyond. We're grateful for the support of our investors, partners, and our amazing community of users. Together, we're building something truly special. Stay tuned for more exciting updates as we continue on this journey.