CLIQ secures seven-figure round to turn online connections into in-person meetups
This article covers CLIQ, a B2C social networking startup, which has raised a seven-figure investment round led by Global Venture Fund Artesian and joined by a family office and a group of angel investors to scale its app that prioritises real-world meetups. The funding will be used to expand marketing, grow the team and strengthen the product ahead of planned international expansion in 2026, supporting the startup's efforts to scale its user base and promote in-person connections.
CLIQ has raised a seven-figure investment round led by Global Venture Fund Artesian, joined by a family office and a group of angel investors, to scale its social networking app that prioritises real-world meetups. The funding follows a £530,000 pre-seed round in 2024 and will be used to expand marketing, grow the team and strengthen the product ahead of international expansion planned for 2026.
Why it matters
The round signals renewed investor interest in consumer social products that prioritise offline interaction rather than solely digital engagement. CLIQ says it has attracted hundreds of thousands of users worldwide without spending on marketing, a metric investors often prize as evidence of product-market fit for B2C startups. How CLIQ translates organic traction into sustainable growth will be a useful test case for other consumer apps seeking to monetise real-world networks.
Inside the product
CLIQ describes itself as a community and social networking app designed to turn online connections into in-person experiences. The company emphasises features and operations that support in-person meetups rather than traditional feed-driven engagement. The new funding is earmarked for marketing, team hires and technical investments to support a growing global user base and to prepare for an international roll-out in 2026.
### Who's backing the round
Who are the investors?
The round is led by Global Venture Fund Artesian and includes support from a family office and a group of angel investors. This follows CLIQ’s £530,000 pre-seed round in 2024. The investors have committed capital plus strategic support to help the company scale operations, expand its team and strengthen its technology stack as it moves into a high-growth phase.
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Founder perspective
In the announcement, Nicola Gunby and Jason Iliffe, Co-Founders at CLIQ, said:
Two years ago, we set out with one mission: to challenge the social networking industry and build something that gets people off their phones and back into real life.
With £0 spent on marketing and hundreds of thousands of users already connecting both online and offline, CLIQ has quickly become one of the fastest-emerging social apps. This investment brings us one step closer to taking that mission worldwide and accelerating real-life connection for more people than ever.
The bigger picture
Consumer social remains a challenging category for investors because of high user acquisition costs and uncertain monetisation paths. CLIQ’s emphasis on organic growth and offline connection distinguishes it from feed-first social products, but scaling a global community app requires sustained investment in moderation, local marketing and product localisation. The next 12–24 months will test whether the app can convert its initial traction into repeatable growth and a viable revenue model.
The deal sits alongside broader flows of capital into UK consumer technology companies and highlights investor willingness to back B2C propositions that demonstrate early organic traction and a clear plan for international expansion.
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