INVESTOR OVERVIEW
The Connection Economy Is Ripe for
Disruption
Social media promised connection and delivered isolation · Sidekick is the anti-
social-media app, built to move people off their screens and into real-world
communities and friendships
Because we don’t monetize time-on-platform, we’re free to build an app that actually brings people together
THE OPPORTUNITY
They Started With Good Intentions · They Got Greedy · People Noticed
This is a generational opportunity to build something better — and capture the value that Big Tech is leaving on the table
⚡
Big Tech Is Losing Trust
From congressional hearings to billion-dollar lawsuits, the major platforms face unprecedented backlash. Books like Careless People and Cory Doctorow’s Enshittification have entered the mainstream conversation. The window is open.
🫀
Loneliness Is a Health Crisis
The U.S. Surgeon General and the WHO have both declared loneliness a public health emergency. 200 million Americans report being lonely. Demand for genuine connection has never been higher.
🎯
Sidekick is Mission-Driven
Because Sidekick doesn’t monetize time-on-platform, we have the structural freedom to actually solve the problem. We’re outsiders building the platform Silicon Valley can’t — because their business model won’t let them.
THE BUSINESS MODEL
One Platform · Two Revenue Streams · One Channel
Organizations bring us the users · Density makes the app worth paying for · Employers pay for what that density produces Each part feeds the next, and all three run on the same matching engine
USERS · THE LONG GAME
Sell the Connection, Not the Addiction
Adults choose from 2,500+ interest categories and 300+ optional personal filters to find nearby people who share their passions. The calendar, opt-in feed and community tools turn a digital match into a real-world friendship. Free today, because density is worth more to us right now than revenue is.
💰 Subscription – free until the network is dense enough to be worth paying for, then a small monthly fee. This is the long-term revenue line.
EMPLOYERS · REVENUE TODAY
Social Wellness as an Employee Benefit
Lonely employees leave, and replacing one can cost up to twice their salary. Employers buy Sidekick for their whole workforce the way they buy any other benefit, except this one shows up in retention rather than in a wellness dashboard nobody opens. The employee pays nothing, and their privacy is protected.
💰 Per-employee pricing, sold as a benefit. Near-term revenue, and proof that connection carries measurable enterprise value.
ORGANIZATIONS · THE CHANNEL
Free Reach in Exchange for Their People
Gyms, venues, congregations, alumni groups and clubs already hold the audiences we need. They claim a community, tell their members once, and get permanent unfiltered reach to those members in return. They’re not a revenue line. They’re how we acquire users in blocks of hundreds or thousands, at almost no cost.
💰 Token fees only – up to $40 a month for the control panel once it ships, $40 a year for verification, free for charities. The users are the return, not the fee.
GO-TO-MARKET
Crack the Code in Eugene · Copy It in Portland ·
Scale It Nationwide
Sidekick’s city-by-city “double wedge” expansion model builds dense local networks before
scaling, proving the model works at human scale before automating it at national scale
📍
PHASE 1: EUGENE
Prove the Model
Build partnerships, refine the product, and establish repeatable playbooks in our home market.
✓ Under Way
🔄
PHASE 2: PORTLAND & CORVALLIS
Replicate & Refine
Deploy the proven Eugene playbook in other West Coast cities using community features and local partnerships.
Next
🚀
PHASE 3: NATIONWIDE
Scale City by City
Expand across the U.S. The taxonomy and matching engine are location-agnostic by design.
future
TRACTION
Tested and Verified · Ready to Launch
Sidekick has completed its Beta testing and market-segmentation work and is live on iOS and Android and is recruiting founding partners · We’ve even done a UX review with eye-tracking technology · We’re ready to roll
10
INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERS &
CORPORATE PILOTS
Including Hult Center, Eugene Symphony, and City of Eugene Recreation
3
UNIVERSITY PARTNERSHIPS
UO Insights Lab, Allen Hall PR, and MBA Strategy co-creation
12
STUDENT CONTRIBUTORS
Current college students and academics who shaped the app’s design
OUR PARTNERS IN EUGENE
Hult Center for the Performing Arts
Eugene Symphony
Eugene Science Center
City of Eugene Dept. of Recreation
First Congregational Church
75%
of testers said they’d recommend
Sidekick to a friend
This app, I truly believe, will become a household name and be phenomenally successful. You’ve done really good, and deserve to be wildly successful. Bravo!
This is exactly the type of app I would like to use. Trying to make friends is difficult as an adult and I could see myself using this app to make more friends.
Seems like a great idea to connect people without the negative effects of social media. It appears to offer a better and more positive place to meet people.
I think this app has great potential. An app that makes a clear message that this is for actual hang outs outside of the platform makes it feel more real.
From a usability study of 100 volunteers who tested Sidekick for 30+ minutes
THE TEAM
Outsiders With a Fresh Perspective on Tech
We’re not from Silicon Valley, and that’s a feature, not a bug · Every step of our design process was
built with the input of 12 current college students and academics
Laura Illig
Founder & CEO
Artist and entrepreneur with a vision for a new America. Passionate about community and willing to fight to bring us (back) together.
Robert Illig
Co-Founder & COO
Law professor and business strategist. Bringing legal expertise and strategic vision to the connection
economy.
THE ENGINE
2,600+ Hand-Curated Interest Categories
While most social platforms use broad categories or keyword tags, Sidekick has built a
structured, hand-curated taxonomy of over 2,500 interest categories organized into 10
domains · Users can match at exactly the level of specificity they want, from “Music” down
to “Bluegrass Banjo”
🤝 Friendship & Camaraderie
28
🎬 Entertainment
516
🎲 Hobbies & Games
238
📚 Knowledge & Inquiry
401
🌻 Service & Community
53
🎨 Arts & Music
466
🧘 Health, Wellness & Spirituality
98
🏡 Home & Garden
65
🌲 Nature & the Outdoors
95
⚽ Sports & Exercise
281
WHY THIS MATTERS TO INVESTORS
This taxonomy is a defensible competitive asset. It can’t be replicated overnight, it improves with user feedback over time, and it powers both the B2C matching and the B2B targeting, making it the engine of both revenue streams. Most apps need a network to create value. Sidekick creates value to build the network, because our taxonomy delivers relevant matches even at small scale.
BEYOND INTERESTS
Optional Personal Filters: Matching That Goes Deeper
7 opt-in filter categories let users match on dimensions no other platform captures
🌐
Languages
100+ languages
🧠
Neurodiversity
ADHD, Autism, more
💬
Personality Type
MBTI, Enneagram, more
♿
Disability
Deaf/HoH, Blind, Mobility, more
🍷
Substance Use
Preferences & recovery
👨👩👧
Situation
Family, faith, military, more
🏳️🌈
Status
Gender identity & orientation
🔒 Privacy by design. Every filter is opt-in. Default selections are hidden where appropriate. Data is never sold. Users control visibility at every level.
Inclusion as a Structural Feature, Not a Marketing Claim
Sidekick’s Particulars system doesn’t just accommodate diversity — it’s built around it. Users who identify as neurodivergent, disabled, LGBTQIA+, sober, or part of any other sub-community can filter for people who share their experience, making the product meaningfully better for underserved populations.
WHY THIS MATTERS TO INVESTORS
The Particulars system demonstrates product sophistication and market awareness. It shows sensitivity-aware design (hidden defaults for majority traits, tiered privacy), creates natural community segmentation for B2B partners, and positions Sidekick as genuinely inclusive, not performatively so. Combined with the Interests taxonomy, the Particulars system gives Sidekick 2,800+ distinct matching dimensions — an unparalleled depth of personalization for a friendship platform.
2,800+
Distinct Matching Dimensions = Interests + Personal Filters Combined
Woman-owned
Mission-driven
Built in Eugene, Oregon
Let’s Re-Build the Connection Economy Together
Whether you’re a potential partner, community organization, or someone
who believes technology should bring people together, we’d love to hear
from you
[email protected] · 541.510.4556