Luluvise - a private social network for women and their BFFs
Luluvise, the new platform dedicated to “girl time, all the time,” has announced the public launch of its site luluvise.com.
Only a month ago, the company announced that it had secured $1 million in financing from prestigious US and UK investors and Alexandra Chong, CEO and Founder of Luluvise, met with UK Prime Minster David Cameron during his Tech City tour in support of startups and innovation in London.
Luluvise is a private social and communications platform dedicated to young women and their best friends. It allows young women to hand pick their closest friends and create a private network of girlfriends they actually care about.
Female friendship is all about chatting, sharing, gossiping, shopping, supporting each other, and giving advice (even if it hasn't been asked for!). With its unique features, the Luluvise platform streamlines “girl time” activities to safely re-create the patterns of close female friendship. All of this is targeted to the most expressive and communicative demographic online: women, who generate more than 70% of the messaging activity on Facebook, spend 35% more time on social networks than men, and drive 80% of all consumer spending.
After a particularly successful Valentine’s Day date in 2009, Alexandra wanted to share the juicy details with girlfriends, many of whom were scattered all over the world, but she didn’t feel comfortable posting on Facebook. Three telephone calls, a slew of BBM messages, a few text messages, and two Skype calls later, she said to her friend Alison Schwartz, who became her co-founder, “Why can’t I tell this story to all of my friends at once?” And Luluvise was born.
“Best friends are essential to health and happiness for young women. We created Luluvise because sometimes life (work, school, family and other obligations) gets in the way of that ever important girl time. I knew that if I needed something like Luluvise, so did other women,” explains Alexandra.
Luluvise chose December for its public launch because between all the retail insanity, eggnog excess, mistletoe action, and family drama, girls need their friends to survive the holiday craziness. As Alexandra elaborated, "launching while the holidays are in full swing is a great way to show how useful Luluvise can be to young women around the world. If you need advice on how much to spend on a gift for a new-ish boyfriend, a place to vent about crazy Aunt Judy, or if you need in-depth analysis of which New Year’s Eve party will have the cutest guys, Luluvise is there to keep you sane and totally connected with your best friends this holiday season. You might be in London for Christmas, your BFF might be in New York, but Luluvise lets you shop, gossip and obsess just like you’re sitting together in a cafe having brunch.”
Luluvise.com is targeted at young women ages 18-35. Each "Luluviser" can create an "Inner Circle," which is a private and secure space accessible only to the friends she trusts the most and with whom she is comfortable sharing private details. The "Scoop" feature allows users to share their latest news, dilemmas and gossip in four different ways.
The Text and Photo Scoops let girls share their news and pictures with friends in an easy-to-use format that encourages discussion of the minutiae of any saga (I bumped into my ex-BF yesterday and he looked hot. Should I text him? My rival at the office is taking all the credit for my work. Should I tell to my boss?)
The Poll Scoop lets Luluvisers create their own Q&As, complete with photos to illustrate the options, for quick, gut instinct advice from their BFFs, wherever they may be. For example, you can create a poll for New Year’s Eve outfit options: a) strapless lace, b) miniskirt and tight turtleneck, or c) black jeans, high heels and a sparkly top. Or a poll for that most classic holiday dilemma: to return a gift or not. Should I return this scarf? Yes... it's too ugly for words or No.... it's ironically adorable. Polls can also save the day when you're doing last minute shopping but running out of ideas. I need a present for my dad, help! a) golf balls, b) a tie, c) books – any suggestions? or d) a session with a trainer.
And then there is the notorious WikiDate Scoop. As Alexandra explains, “A WikiDate Scoop is a pre-set quiz that enables you to review a guy – your current crush, your BF, your ex-BF, or your best guy friend – and let your Inner Circle know what you really think about him. When you create a WikiDate Scoop, only your Inner Circle will know that you reviewed a particular guy and only your Inner Circle will see any additional comments you make. The guy will never know it was you. When you create a WikiDate Scoop, Luluvise.com takes the score from your review and averages it with the scores from other ‘Luluvisers’ who have also reviewed the same gentleman. Your score contributes to Luluvise’s ever-growing database of dudes.”
Luluvise is proof that in a male-dominated industry, female entrepreneurs can kick ass and do it in a great pair of shoes. As Alexandra’s elevator pitch always concludes, "Think Sex and the City meets Facebook.”