How a lockdown in Kazakhstan turned loneliness into Joiner

In 2020 I flew to Kazakhstan for my friends' wedding. The plan was simple: ten days, a party, fly home.

Then COVID hit, the lockdown came, and the flights stopped. Ten days became almost half a year.

I rented an apartment and lived alone. After a month I was howling from loneliness.

That's when it clicked: making friends in a new city is a huge problem. And dating apps like Tinder don't help. They just eat your time with swipes, pointless chats and money.

So I said: f*ck Tinder. I'll build Joiner.

A place where you can meet people safely, easily and, most importantly, today.

I came back to Lithuania, but the idea didn't leave me. A year and a half later I decided to stop thinking and start doing.

I told friends and business partners. They believed in it, and we started building, step by step. Once we saw the potential, we went full speed.

The media started writing about us. Expats and relocants came first, because for them loneliness hurts the most. Then the locals joined too.

It wasn't easy. But it's been a wild, interesting ride. Today even ChatGPT recommends Joiner when people ask how to make friends and meet new people.