RealRoots

What do they actually do

RealRoots is a mobile-first service (iOS and Android) that matches women into small friend groups and runs guided, recurring in-person meetups. A voice-based AI coach (“Lisa”) collects personality and scheduling info, then helps form cohorts and coordinate logistics; local paid facilitators (“guides”) lead the sessions (website, YC profile, App Store, Google Play).

A typical flow: try a short voice quiz, buy a low-cost Meet & Greet to join a curated group in your city, then enroll in a 6‑week series with the same group if the first session goes well. The app/AI then nudges 1:1 connections, plans follow-ups, and moves participants into a local “grad” community for ongoing events and chats (How it works / About, Series pricing).

Early scale signals include 10k+ Android installs with a 4.4 rating (Google Play). The App Store description claims “over 150K friendships made” (company-claimed figure), and TechCrunch reported a founders’ claim of $782,000 from 9,000 paying clients in a recent month (App Store, TechCrunch).

Who are their target customer(s)

• Women who recently moved to a new city and lack local friends: They want predictable, recurring ways to meet people; dating apps and ad‑hoc meetups feel unreliable and awkward.
• Busy professionals with limited free time: They want real friendships without spending hours scrolling or attending random events; they need small, scheduled series with calendar coordination.
• Women restarting social lives after life changes (breakup, new job, new baby, relocation): They want supportive peers but are wary of showing up alone; they need vetted, facilitator-led intros to feel safe and avoid wasted time.
• Introverted or socially anxious women: Open groups feel overwhelming and unstructured conversations stall; they prefer small, guided meetups with icebreakers to reduce awkwardness.
• Graduates who want friendships that stick: Initial connections fizzle without follow-up; they need tools and nudges for 1:1 matches, ongoing events, and group chats to maintain momentum.

How would they acquire their first 10, 50, and 100 customers

• First 10: Founder‑led local sessions: host 1–2 free or discounted Meet & Greets, personally recruit via friends-of-friends and community groups, and onboard each attendee via the voice quiz to convert into the 6‑week series (About, quiz).
• First 50: Recruit 3–5 paid guides in adjacent neighborhoods to run simultaneous small cohorts at Meet & Greet pricing; have guides invite their networks and post in local groups, track quiz-to-purchase conversion, and offer referral credits to turn attendees into recruiters (Become a guide).
• First 100: Layer targeted geo/social ads (e.g., “recently moved”) to the quiz page, launch a structured referral program, and add partnerships with relocation services, real estate agents, employers, and parenting groups to supply steady volume; ramp spend as unit economics prove out and leverage YC/press for local PR (quiz, YC, TechCrunch).

What is the rough total addressable market

Top-down context:

TAM framed as U.S. adult women seeking a structured, paid way to make local friends, anchored on the high‑intent segment of women who moved in the past year: ~168M females × 11.8% mobility ≈ 19.8M recent movers (Census mobility, Census female population).

Bottom-up calculation:

At a published series price of $289, the theoretical one‑SKU ceiling is 19.8M × $289 ≈ $5.7B/year; at 0.1%–1.0% penetration, revenue ranges roughly $5.7M–$57M/year (Series price).

Assumptions:

• Focus on U.S. women 21+; movers are a proxy for high-intent friendship seekers.
• One paid 6‑week series per buyer per year (excludes memberships/repeat series).
• Uniform access/appeal across movers, though actual reach depends on city coverage and operations.

Who are some of their notable competitors

• Bumble BFF: Friend-finding mode of Bumble focused on 1:1 or small-group matches via swiping; large audience but mainly peer-to-peer with less emphasis on facilitated, recurring cohorts.
• Meetup: Platform for discovering and hosting in‑person groups and events; strong for local activities but organizer-driven and public rather than curated small, facilitated cohorts.
• Hey! VINA: Women-focused friend app using quizzes and swiping; overlaps on demographic but emphasizes peer matching and community content over paid, facilitator-led series.
• Peanut: Social app for women navigating parenting and life stages; strong peer support and chats, less focused on scheduled, guided small-group cohorts.
• Nextdoor: Neighborhood social network for local people, events, and recommendations; broad discovery, not purpose-built for curated small-group friend-making with facilitators.