Bonobos cofounder Andy Dunn has a new IRL social startup. Read the 31-page pitch deck it used to raise $11.5 million.

• Pie, an IRL social startup, raised $11.5 million in Series A funding led by Forerunner Ventures.
• Founded by Bonobos' Andy Dunn, Pie focuses on in-person connections and events.

Social-networking startups are ditching online friends and followers for in-person, real-life connections.

Pie, a Chicago-based startup founded by menswear brand Bonobos' Andy Dunn, is joining the race to help people make friends.

One of many emerging "IRL social" apps, Pie lets users plan and join in on IRL hangouts. The app is already equipped with an AI assistant and is piloting an enterprise product offering.

"The battle for offline attention is the next big thing in consumer," Dunn told Business Insider.

Amid a loneliness epidemic declared by US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, and social-media users growing jaded with online life, startups like Posh (a sort of TikTok feed for events) and 222 (a way to meet strangers via dinners or events) have also raised venture capital this year with apps aiming to help people find friends.

Pie recently announced that it raised a $11.5 million Series A led by Forerunner Ventures' Kirsten Green. The round also included participation from Chicago-based fund Origin Ventures and Twitter cofounder Ev Williams. Its latest round puts Pie's total capital raised at $24 million, per the company.

Like many startups, Pie has had to pivot. It launched in 2020 as a friend matchmaking app, akin to a Bumble Friends experience.

"We got a lot of matching, a lot of profile browse, but no one would reach out to the other person," Dunn said.

After reading Dr. Marisa Fanco's book "Platonic," Dunn said he went back to the drawing board. Scrolling through potential friends wasn't going to cut it — it had to be recurring group hangouts to help people meet and stay connected.

With a team of 10 Chicago-based staffers, Pie doubled down on building an IRL app and using the city as a testing ground.

"Chicago doesn't have the saturation of consumer apps you have in New York City, Los Angeles, or San Francisco," Dunn said.

In February and March, the startup began testing local, curated events, dubbed "Pie Originals," in Chicago, such as a monthly silent book club or a bi-monthly "Dudes Getting Pancakes" hangout. Dunn credits the app's growth to this strategy. It hit 20,000 monthly active users in six months of testing the Pie Originals.

Local event creators, like Mary Doctor, who hosts a show-and-tell event for adults, have used Pie to gather people and make money.

"There's this whole creator economy of people who want to bring people together in person," Dunn added.

With its Series A capital, Pie is rolling out a creator fund for event hosts, which pays $5 to the creator for every RSVP to an event (all of which are free for attendees).

The startup plans to experiment with different monetization models, eyeing a potential freemium model that apps like Bumble and Hinge have opted for.

"This is venture-backed startups," Dunn said, adding that by the time of Pie's Series B, it will have a monetization engine locked down. "You have costs, and then you figure out revenues later."

In the meantime, Dunn is betting on Pie's Gen-Z staff and the app's user growth, which stands at 40% month-over-month.

Read the 31-page pitch deck that Andy Dunn used to raise Pie's Series A:

Note: Pie has redacted details and amended some pages so that the document could be shared externally.

Pie's pitch focuses on how it will help people overcome social isolation.

Courtesy of Pie

The deck starts with a reference to the US Surgeon General's declaration of a "social isolation pandemic."

Courtesy of Pie

"In the last two decades, we've lost 24 hours of in-person time per month," the slide reads.

Then Pie cites research about loneliness from more than two decades ago.

Courtesy of Pie

Pie cites Dr. Marisa Franco's book "Platonic," too.

Courtesy of Pie

Pie compares its feed to the social media feeds we already have.

Courtesy of Pie

The deck includes testimonials from users.

Courtesy of Pie

Pie outlines the competitive landscape of IRL social apps.

Courtesy of Pie

The app began testing "Pie Originals," events curated for Chicago, earlier this year.

Courtesy of Pie

The app also has "creators" who host events.

Courtesy of Pie

Then the deck breaks down its design and user experience.

Courtesy of Pie

Pie wants to use the friends-of-friends network effect to scale and help people meet.

Courtesy of Pie

Pie is also equipped with AI.

Courtesy of Pie

Its AI assistant will help people make dinner plans.

Courtesy of Pie

How Moosey works his magic.

Courtesy of Pie

AI features

Courtesy of Pie

Users are able to have profiles.

Courtesy of Pie

How Pie's AI feature works

Courtesy of Pie

Then Pie breaks down its growth so far.

Courtesy of Pie

User retention increases after three plans.

Courtesy of Pie

Pie illustrates how it's working so far in Chicago.

Courtesy of Pie

Then Pie draws similarities to the creator economy.

Courtesy of Pie

It also compares its market opportunity to Airbnb and Uber.

Courtesy of Pie

Pie launched a creator fund to help pay creators.

Courtesy of Pie

It's also building out an enterprise product offering.

Courtesy of Pie

Companies can use Pie to connect coworkers.

Courtesy of Pie

Pie lays out its monetization roadmap.

Courtesy of Pie

Its enterprise product will be key to Pie's monetization strategy early-on.

Courtesy of Pie

Wrapping up, Pie introduces CEO and founder Andy Dunn.

Courtesy of Pie

It also introduces its team of 10 staffers.

Courtesy of Pie

And notable investors and shareholders.

Courtesy of Pie

Pie updated some parts of its pitch deck in the copy it shared with Business Insider, including investments from its Series A.

Pie pitch deck

Courtesy of Pie