The bread of life: meet Butter, the startup creating social connections over shared loves

While social media has created a chimera of connection, isolation and loneliness have been on the rise.

In response there’s been an upswing in IRL (in real life) alternatives such as run clubs where people connect around shared passions.

And while apps such as Tinder and Bumble have mostly focused on finding a date and/or booty call, a new digital solution to help people find their tribe has emerged to solve the problem of finding new friends to share moments with.

Butter is the brainchild of Melbourne entrepreneur and Founder Institute alumni Sam Richardson. She set out to create a social impact startup based on her own experience, connecting people around their social plans to create companionship.

Think of it as run club without having to run. She set out to flip current solutions, removing the barriers and stigma associated with going online to find friendship and then get users to meet offline as quickly as possible.

Users can make, find and join social plans they’d like to do with others. It could be anything from going for coffee and a chat, to dinner, even a weekend jog, or larger group events like supper and book clubs and workout sessions.

You can also discover the social plans of others and request to join them based on your shared experiences.   

“Disconnection has spread through society like wildfire in the last two years, with 36%  of Australians feeling lonely each week. However, it’s the lack of the right type of  community that triggers it, rather than an absence of people altogether,” Richardson said.

“I started Butter because I was craving a space to do the things I wanted  to do with the people who wanted to join me. Our friends won’t always love the things  we love, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t people who do; and it certainly doesn’t  mean that we need to miss out because of it. We exist to help people find and form those intentional connections through shared experiences.”  

Butter launched this week, and given it’s Dry July, Richardson decided to focus on the sober and sober-curious seeking more mindful interactions, especially when going out is so often associated with drinks.  

Her research while developing Butter unearthed the problems around alcohol for many, who told her things like “I’ve become isolated since I stopped drinking” and “I’ve stopped having things in common with my friends”.  

Then there are issues such as “my friends are unreliable and our schedules never match up ” and “I find it hard to explore my new interests with old friends”. 

Richardson created Butter as the address those concerns and barriers to finding new people to hang out with.

“We want Butter to be a place to gather intentionally, to connect with the right social  plans and friends so we can ultimately create the life we want – and become the  people we want,” she said.

“It’s ambitious, but I think it’s something worth solving.”  

She’s initially spreading Butter as an invite-only space, with plans to extend beyond the sober-ish to wider communities in Melbourne and interstate.

Anyone interested in joining can request an invite on the Butter site.