Based on her personal experience while living in Baltimore, Laura Mitchell knew it was time to create a new type of community.
“As a queer woman, everywhere I’ve lived, it’s been really hard to find community, especially outside of bars and dating apps,” she told Hypepotamus.
What started as a Facebook Group in 2016 has grown into the concept of The LO, a vetted membership-based community designed to help women in the LGBT community connect. Mitchell describes it as “Facebook meets meet up meets LinkedIn for queer women.”
The online community has grown to be over 5,000 strong.
Now living in Atlanta with her wife and co-founder Jessica Duveen, Mitchell added that the network is designed not just to empower queer women, but also to build a directory of queer-friendly businesses, provide location and interest-specific event programs, and a professional network with mentor/mentee matching and job listings.
Duveen added that members can connect with the community and get recommendations in other cities as well as when they travel.
Duveen brings a background in impact investing to the team, and before starting The LO she worked in London helping mission-driven start-ups to raise value-aligned capital.
The team participated in last year’s Start It Up Georgia program which they said helped bring the new platform and app to life.
Whether people are looking to network or socialize, the waitlist is now open for potential new members. The app and network will be open to those aged 24 and older.
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