Locals Expands to the UAE

Locals is a London based social discovery app that this month has expanded its service to the UAE. Locals targets “entrepreneurs, world changers, go-getters, leaders and aspiring individuals” for its users. The idea is to provide them real-world and meaningful connections to battle the loneliness epidemic. 

After a round of seed funding that saw more than $11 million USD raised, the app is expanding its horizon to new territories, namely the UAE. The company has made a strong start, with Locals featuring as the ‘app of the day’ in the Apple store already in the county. Plus, a kick off paddle tournament event, hosted by entrepreneur Jessica Kahawaty, already attracted 50 members with clips of the event going viral on instagram. 

Eugene Nevgen, Co-Founder and CEO of Locals.org, said: 

‘We are thrilled to be launching and scaling in the UAE. The country has always been a hub for entrepreneurs with over 94 per cent of the businesses in Dubai alone classified as small and medium-sized enterprises. We want to bring our unique social networking vision to the market – so that entrepreneurs and world changers can connect with like-minded people whether for networking or simply based on the social activities they enjoy.  

Locals has already had 200,000 people signed up and verified for its service, and 25,000 events have taken place. The UAE is just the start for the app’s expansion into the Middle East. Its focus on entrepreneurs is an interesting take and USP. One of the most interesting aspects is that activities can automatically be tied into fundraising initiatives for good causes. We look forward to seeing where Locals expands next.