It started somewhere you'd never expect.
I grew up in Forbes — a small town where everyone knows everyone. You'd think that makes loneliness impossible. It doesn't.
I used to train for swimming at a level where the pool was my whole life. Wake up, train, school, train, sleep. When that stopped, I didn't know who I was without it. I had anxiety. Depression. Days where getting out of bed felt like the whole task.
I didn't have some big breakthrough moment. I just started building — small systems, daily habits, things that gave me structure when my head wouldn't. Slowly, it worked. Now I'm school captain at Redbend, running my own business, and genuinely happy for the first time in years.
But I look around and see so many people still stuck. People who just want someone to grab lunch with. Who want to make friends but don't know how to start. That's why I'm building Avilo — to make connection as easy as it should've been all along.
The apps that were supposed to help didn't. Dating apps want a "connection." Friend apps want you to write an essay about your hobbies. Meetup groups require you to commit to a whole thing weeks in advance. Everything felt like a performance. I just wanted to know: is there anyone nearby right now who's also free?
"I didn't want to swipe. I didn't want to plan.
I just wanted to grab a coffee with someone real."
So I built the thing I wished existed.
Avilo started as a note in my phone. "App that shows you who's nearby and wants to hang." That was it. Over the next few months it became sketches, then wireframes, then a prototype I showed to anyone who'd look at it. Every single person said some version of the same thing: "I need this."
The loneliness epidemic is real. Not just a vibe — there's research. Adults today report fewer close friends than any generation before us. We're more connected than ever and somehow more isolated. I was living proof, and I was sick of it.
What makes Avilo different.
Most social apps are built to keep you on the app. Avilo is built to get you off it — out in the real world, meeting actual humans. We don't care about your follower count. We care about how many people you've genuinely met.
That's why we built meetup verification. Both people take a selfie together. It uploads, it timestamps, it goes on the community feed. Nobody can fake it. Then — and only then — can you endorse each other's traits. The reputation you build on Avilo is earned in person, not manufactured online.
We also built safety in from day one — not as an afterthought. Phone verification, real-time location control, one-tap block and report. Because meeting strangers should feel exciting, not anxious. The community is verified. Your safety is non-negotiable.
Where we're headed.
Right now Avilo is in invite-only beta. We're starting small — one neighbourhood, a tight-knit community, real feedback. We'd rather nail it in one place than scale something broken. The goal is to make Sydney feel smaller in the best possible way: where bumping into someone you know is the rule, not the lucky exception.
If you've ever eaten alone in a city full of people — this is for you. Join the waitlist. Be part of what comes next.