Starting fresh in a new city can be challenging, especially when it comes to forging new friendships and meeting people.

eat&vibe is a social platform designed to tackle that problem. The app helps newcomers meet people through shared cravings and adventures, turning unfamiliar streets into familiar connections.

Making friends shouldn’t be hard

Michael Ake, eat&vibe’s Marketing Lead, said the platform was created to help immigrants form connections in new environments.

“eat&vibe is a social application that connects people through shared cravings and adventure,” said Ake. “The idea is to help people connect without any pressure or without any hassle, just simple friendship and platonic relationships.”

Isolation was a key motivator for the founders, who wanted to make it easier for newcomers to feel part of their communities.

“Isolation can slowly lead to depression. We have heard directly from people’s mouths how deeply they are feeling isolated or lonely,” Ake said. “That's where the main idea was generated from because people actually feel this way.”

Two apps, one goal

eat&vibe operates as a mobile app for users and a web application for vendors, including food spots and activity providers. This dual setup means users can easily find places to meet, while vendors benefit from increased visibility and customer traffic.

“We make these vendors very much available to our users as soon as they come on board our application,” said Ake. “Rather than catching a vibe [with someone] and going back to Google, asking ‘where can we go?’, and ‘what can we do?’”

Instant connections, no waiting

The app is designed to remove the hesitation and planning that often come with meeting new people. When setting up their profile, users select their culture, age, interests and location. The platform then uses that information to suggest matches with people who share similar passions, as well as nearby restaurants or activities to try together.

“When you come on board, you instantly connect with someone who shares the same cravings and adventures as you,” said co-founder Jeffrey McCall. “You connect with the person, just like how you book an Uber ride, and you get someone to hang out with.”

By blending elements of a social media app, like Instagram and a local discovery platform, like Uber, eat&vibe makes it easy to go from chatting online to sharing a meal in person. 

Users can browse, match, chat and choose a venue all within one app.

Helping local businesses grow

The platform’s dual focus on people and places means it also helps small businesses attract customers. Restaurants, cafés and entertainment venues can join eat&vibe through a web portal, making themselves discoverable to users planning their next outing.

“We speak to these vendors, tell them we're going to supply them with customers and that all we want is for them to be available on our platform,” said McCall. “So once you connect with a person, create a chat, you can choose a spot to meet through eat&vibe.”

By connecting people and local businesses in one ecosystem, eat&vibe aims to strengthen community ties while supporting local economies.

Waterloo Region as a launchpad

Based in Cambridge, the team sees Waterloo Region as the ideal place to grow the platform and test its features.

The Kitchener-Waterloo region is filled with students and small families who are looking to make connections in a smaller city before exploring opportunities in larger cities.

“That observation has made us know that this is where we want to focus,” said Ake.

Making newcomers feel at home

For McCall, the ultimate goal is to give immigrants and travellers a sense of belonging wherever they are.

“We believe in what we've built, we can help immigrants or travellers all around the world meet with people,” he said. “Meet people from their cultural heritage, meet with friends, meet with locals and be able to feel like they are at home even though it's still far from home.”

By combining the social experience of connecting with the discovery power of local search, eat&vibe is helping newcomers feel comfortable, connected and seen in their new cities.

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