Has this ever happened to you? You saved a TikTok video of a restaurant with every intention of going there with your friends … only to forget it ever existed?

This digital-age dilemma inspired former Hinge executives Sam Levy and Tim MacGougan to build their new company Rodeo. The app pulls key details from social media content and turns them into a calendar-style hold to share with friends or family, turning social media scrolling into real-world plans.

The feature proved popular with the 20,000 people who used Rodeo during its beta. On Tuesday, the founders announced they raised a seed round of $8.5 million, backed by VC firms including Foundry, 359 Capital, and Oceans. The startup did not disclose its valuation.

“There's a lot of apps helping you meet new people for dating or friendship,” says Levy, Rodeo’s CEO. “But not a lot are focused on your existing relationships and how you maintain and nurture those over time.”

Levy and MacGougan joined Hinge in its early days, both working on the product side. Levy went on to become COO, while MacGougan served as chief product officer. They left in 2022 and spent the next few years, Levy says, “obsessed with this idea of how to help people spend more time together.”

That vision took several iterations. Rodeo was initially an additional feature in a more traditional and broad calendering app. Today, it allows people to upload content, like a social media link or even screenshots of their group chats; then, it extracts relevant details like a restaurant’s address or where reservations are available.

“We’re not just transcribing a screenshot of a game you’re going to,” says MacGougan, who leads the company’s technology. “We’re finding where the tickets are. We’re adding value by pulling together those details and organizing them so making a plan feels like choosing from a menu.”

To gain its first users, Levy went onto TikTok to make videos explaining the app (and how easy it is to use—no need to even exit TikTok). Thousands of people, including actress Sophia Bush, have since asked for an invite code in the comments.

“Sam's natural charisma is just carrying us through,” MacGougan jokes. “It’s free, free, free.”

The free marketing has paid off in even greater ways. Rodeo opened up $250,000 of its seed round to a handful of small but mighty creators who were already using the app. Now with a piece of the action, the creators are using their platforms to hype the product.

“It's the difference between being transactional and thinking in partnerships, and that resonated with me a lot,” says Jaclyn Freeman Hester, partner at Rodeo’s lead investor firm, Foundry.

One question the team hasn’t quite roped in yet? Monetization. At this stage, Rodeo isn’t generating revenue and doesn’t have a plan.

That’s not unusual for consumer social apps (or AI start-ups). Instagram and TikTok operated for years before introducing meaningful revenue models. But since the frothy days of 2022, the markets have shifted from pushing growth at all costs to business models with sturdy cash flow.

Levy and MacGougan aren’t convinced that advertising is the right fit for Rodeo, which isn’t designed to keep users scrolling. Instead, they see future revenue stemming from partnerships with companies like Ticketmaster, OpenTable or Resy which make money whenever a user turns social inspiration into an actual outing. The pair is also considering a freemium model, similar to that of Hinge, where customers pay for more functions and tools.

The founders and their investors aren’t concerned. “While there’s no specific plan today, that doesn’t mean there aren’t a number of avenues we’ve explored and built confidence around,” Foundry’s Freeman Hester says. “It’s just too early to know the right path.”

For now, the focus is on growing the brand. Levy expects Rodeo to become available to up to 50,000 users following Tuesday’s announcement, as the team continues improving the technology and adding features.

The long-term ambition is bigger.

“The hope is that Rodeo becomes the platform people use to power a fulfilling life,” Levy says. “Who knows if in 10 years we’ll even be using mobile apps? That part isn’t important. What’s important is that people will always need infrastructure that helps them stay organized and see their friends more.”