The round was led by 500 Global, and supported by Goodwater Capital, Wing Vasiksiri, strategic investor Peng T. Ong (co-founder of the first online dating site Match.com), as well as existing investor Antler.
WeGoWhere, the social networking platform that gets people meeting offline, announced today a $1.2 million Seed funding round led by 500 Global, and supported by Goodwater Capital, Wing Vasiksiri, strategic investor Peng T. Ong (co-founder of the first online dating site Match.com), as well as existing investor Antler. The new funding will be used to drive product innovation, enhance user experience, and expand into new markets across Southeast Asia.
Founded in 2020 by Ty Lertwichaiworawit and Mint Leung, WeGoWhere is a social networking app dedicated to helping people build, manage and nurture in-person relationships. The app helps users find out ahead of time what friends are planning, discover nearby and trending meetups curated to their interests, and allow them to effortlessly organize in-person gatherings. WeGoWhere has a growing and vibrant community of 300,000+ users in Thailand.
Social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok were designed based on a past-tense paradigm: users capture photos & videos to share with their network either during or after the event. This leads to a missed opportunity for friends in their online community to connect with them in-person at these occasions.
WeGoWhere believes that a more satisfying and meaningful way to nurture human relationships is to connect through shared experiences in real life, rather than simply tagging social media posts or passively watching reels. The app is an intuitive social platform that helps people share their plans in advance with friends, and makes it easy for friends to join. The WeGoWhere app also streamlines the logistics of organizing meetups that would have taken multiple apps to complete from deciding on a common date/time, discovering an activity, splitting the bill, sharing of high resolution photos and videos, and more.
Ty Lertwichaiworawit, CEO & Co-founder of WeGoWhere said: "Social media, the way it is built today, is a recap of the past as users scroll through posts, reels and stories of meetups that have taken place. We designed WeGoWhere to reflect how we actually socialize in real life - we tell our friends about our plans so they can join too. WeGoWhere is a platform that encourages everyone to live life to the fullest by rediscovering the joy of face-to-face connections and creating memories together. We’re grateful to our investors for believing in our vision."
WeGoWhere began as a platform that brings together ‘strangers’ with common interests. The early community developed close friendships and invited their friends to join, leading to significant traction for the team with:
Khailee Ng, Managing Partner of 500 Global shares: "We love sticking to our screens. There are apps for that. But we love seeing each other in real life too! WeGoWhere can help with both! By combining technology and UX design, Ty and her team are redefining what a connected world means for everyone. It’s about time we had a new kind of social network that truly engages people and communities.”
Jussi Salovaara, Co-Founder and Managing Partner Asia of Antler comments: “We have believed in WeGoWhere since day zero, recognizing its potential to reshape social networking to encourage in-person shared experiences, and nurturing meaningful relationships. Their success, marked by impressive engagement and retention rates, speaks to the growing need for real-time, authentic connections in our increasingly digital world.