Fika with Gofrendly's founder Ulrika Lilja: ‘People don’t like to admit they feel lonely’

What makes Gofrendly an impact startup?

"There's a lot of people out there experiencing loneliness or just lacking deep connections. I think that's one of the most important things that people need, so that’s the problem we are trying to solve. I think society is very encouraging of people being separate 'individuals' – especially in Sweden where we first launched. We're not usually living with or close to our extended family. We stay single longer. We're having kids later in life. We’re more focussed on careers. So all of those things make us a bit more 'independent' – which can be both good and bad. It can lead to loneliness."

How did the company get started?

"Gofrendly really comes from my cofounder and I having our own need for a safe space where we could connect with like minded-people. I lived in San Francisco for a couple of years, moved back to Sweden and really experienced lacking friends in the same life situation as I was in then. Through a streak of luck I met Claudia [Gård] in a Facebook group, and we had a ‘fika’ and it was sort of a match made in heaven."

How does the platform work and how is it different from other apps for socialising?

"We communicate very clearly that Gofrendly is only for friendship, and we also choose to only target women and those who identify as women. We didn't want to make or create yet another dating platform, but to make something that made women feel comfortable – whether they are single or in a relationship."

Gofrendly has been around since 2015. Do you typically get more sign-ups around Valentine’s Day?

"Definitely. There is always a peak around holidays generally and also Valentine's Day. I think it's one of those days when it's really easy to feel lonely. So we definitely expect more sign ups on Valentine's Day this year as well. And I think that's good because that's a way of taking action against loneliness."

Have you got any other tips for tackling loneliness on Valentine’s Day?

"People don't like to admit to themselves that they feel lonely. But I think once you do it and start taking action, that's when good things tend to happen. Gofrendly could be one action to take – downloading the app – but you could also do a bunch of other stuff – even just calling a friend that you haven't talked to in a long time. Finding a group to go out with is a good idea."

How are you spending Valentine’s Day?

"I'm going to do something for my husband and my kids – maybe a dinner or something like that. Usually on Fridays I prepare a nice dinner with my husband and have a glass of wine and a movie night with the kids."

Gofrendly recently made a comeback after going bankrupt last year - what happened?

"It was really a matter of different opinions. The way that Gofrendly was owned at the time was with a lot of both VCs and angel investors – and we couldn't really agree on the way forward. And this happened at the same time the VC market basically crashed – or pretty close to that. So we decided to file for bankruptcy.

But my cofounder and I knew we hadn’t done everything we wanted to do, and after the announcement our members started to email us and ask 'what can we do?'. They even created groups on the platform focussed on how to save Gofrendly! You don’t see that kind of engagement and interest in other products. So we decided to buy it back. It took us only 20 days and we could keep the app up and running in that time."

So how is it funded now?

"It’s primarily run by my co-founder and I. We brought back a couple of previous investors and we also are looking to raise a small amount of seed funding to bring in one or two new owners. We want to grow at a slower and more steady pace. We have a premium paid version of the app that we call a “fast-track to friendship”, and we also have advertising platforms where we are working with a bunch of companies that want to meet our members through advertising and events."

Will you expand to other parts of Europe?

"We have about 350,000 users in Sweden but we think we can double that. We also want to continue member acquisition in the UK. Our next focus is building traffic in the US. We haven’t officially made a launch there yet, but we are building traffic and testing out the app in different areas."

Do you have any plans for a male-only version of the app?

"I think there's definitely a need for it, but I don't think we'll open up Gofrendly for the male audience. Possibly in the future we might build something else."

Finally, what is your favourite fika?

"I love the classic cinnamon bun – can't go wrong with that. But also a good carrot cake. With coffee, of course."