Matt Clevenger and Mark Griffo know firsthand how hard it can be to make friends as an adult. The two California transplants moved to Boise separately and met through a mutual friend. After realizing how hard it was to build a community from scratch, they decided to create a solution.
They launched the VLLG app — pronounced "village" — in September 2025. The friendship-focused app is designed to help people find and connect with others nearby. Unlike dating apps, VLLG keeps connections strictly platonic.
WATCH | New Treasure Valley app connects neighbors to new friends—
"We are friendship-focused, so if you're a guy, you will only see men in your profile, and if you're a lady, you'll only see the women on the profile. There's no kind of cross we really wanted to kind of keep it separate and really focus on the friendship side of things," Clevenger said.
Since the app was launched last fall, it has grown to more than 1,000 users with 15,000 connections made.
Users create a profile, list their interests, and start messaging people who share them. VLLG also includes a 7-year age gap limit, location filters, and safety features to help narrow down compatible matches.
Marcus Riog moved to Eagle about a year ago and said the app stood out to him because it was built locally.
"I was really attracted to the VLLG app because again, it's an app that's made by Treasure Valley residents, and it's tailored for us," Riog said. "I've already met two people offline in real life. So I would say it's been pretty successful."
For the founders, their mission is to get people off the app and into the real world.
"If you can find a match, share your number, get off the platform and actually meet for coffee or hiking, you know that to us would be a success story," Griffo said.
The app comes at a time when loneliness is a growing concern. Half of Americans said they have experienced loneliness, according to a 2025 study by the American Psychological Association.
Griffo said he hopes VLLG can be part of the solution for the Boise area.
"I just hope it brings more people together. Like we said, there's such a loneliness epidemic. We just wanna see Boise become even stronger and more united and more connected," Griffo said.
