A generation got the most connected technology in history. And then started seeing each other less.

The IRL deficit

Face-to-face time with friends has fallen 45% for teenagers since 2003. UK 16–24 year olds report the highest loneliness of any age group. The U.S. Surgeon General called it an epidemic, with health effects comparable to smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

Critically: in 2023–2024, while everyone else recovered post-pandemic, young people's in-person time kept falling.

The dating-app trap

Solo dating apps were supposed to help. They didn't. They got lonelier. Post-pandemic, the major apps started pushing harder for serious dating fast — pressure to define everything by date one, swiping marathons that lead to chats that go nowhere, DMs that disappear into the void.

39% of one major dating app's users joined after ending a marriage or long-term relationship; 36% of those daters are on apps for the first time. The bar for entry shouldn't be a relationship goal.

Our answer

We don't think the answer is another app to scroll. We think it's an app that gets your crew off the app — together with another crew, on a Saturday night, somewhere real.

Ziva is built on the simple, stubborn idea that we meet people best when we're with our people. Bring two, three, or four mates. Match a crew. Sort the night in group chat. Get out the door.

Whatever it becomes — a relationship, a friend-of-friend group, a really good story — it starts with having fun.

Mostly dating. Sometimes more.

Ziva will be mostly dating. We're fine with that — group dating is the bit that's broken and the bit that's most fun to fix. But the format isn't picky. Two crews, a chat, a plan, a meet — the same mechanic works whether you're looking for a Saturday night, away-day fans for the post-match pub, a camp to vibe with at a festival, or locals to show you around a new city.

Same app. Same simple promise: your crew, plus another crew, doing something real.

That's the whole mission.