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Social media has been around for over 20 years and in that time has grown into a $219 billion market with billions of users, designed to connect users with the people who matter most. However, what was marketed as a tool for human connection has instead become a machine for media addiction. Enter Clique, a high-growth next-gen social platform disrupting the industry by bringing the “social” back to social media.
Founded by 24-year-old entrepreneur Eli Jonah, Clique is more than just another social network, it is reinventing how connections are made. It’s a venture-backed social platform designed to prioritize friends over followers and connection over content.
Unlike other social media platforms, Clique is designed to foster real connection with close friends, family, and coworkers by offering AI-fueled real-time and engaging challenges and icebreakers tailored around your group’s interests that build your offline relationships online. The app doesn’t have likes or followers, so there is no pressure of validation and comparison, and the focus is on sharing real moments that matter to create meaningful connection rather than content scrolling, making it radically different from other social media platforms.
Jonah’s expertise in media and natural love of connecting others is what inspired him to build Clique. At only 16, he set out to throw the largest student-only music festival in Montreal’s history—despite being doubted, mocked, and unable to sign contracts. After nine months of relentless work, he and his team sold out over 1,000 tickets, hosting 15 DJs across three floors. At 17, standing before a packed venue and one of the world’s top DJs, he realized how just one person with a vision can have the power to bring people together in meaningful ways.
Jonah founded a successful multi-million dollar social media marketing agency WHYOU at just twenty two to connect brands and people. The agency led nationwide campaigns that organically reached millions of people across the world each month with clients that included prominent private and public figures and $100M-$500M companies in consumer digital and retail spaces. This immersion allowed him to obsessively study the social media landscape and its potential for large-scale impact.
He also built a media incubator that trained over 120 college interns from 65 U.S. universities, turning them into social media experts in content creation, research, and partnerships. Together, they produced 10,000+ UGC videos, reshaping brands with viral campaigns that left a lasting impact.
However, he soon realized that social media was fundamentally broken, making people more lonely instead of more connected. If his goal was to bring people together, social media in its current state was not the way to do it.
“Social media needs to be redesigned from the ground up,” Jonah shared, “Built on the promise of connection, these platforms have spent 20 years innovating everything except what truly matters. The technology has improved—faster, sleeker, and more polished—but these platforms forgot why we gave them our attention in the first place: to foster deeper connections with the people who matter most. I wanted to build something better.”
On average, Gen Z spends over 4 hours daily on social platforms, with TikTok and Instagram leading the way. Most of that time is spent mindlessly consuming content. Although social media began as a way to connect, it also has some drawbacks. It’s no wonder that according to Deloitte’s Gen Z and Millennial Survey 2023, 69% of users say social media harms their ability to form close relationships.
Jonah’s passion and commitment to fixing this crisis of connection inspired him to risk everything for Clique: he bootstrapped his startup and poured all of his savings into getting Clique off the ground. His vision and conviction attracted a team of top-tier department leads in technology and product from an $8 billion company.
Recruiting a lean team of elite talent required immense effort. Jonah spent countless hours interviewing hundreds of people and built his team by operating with a “hire slow, fire fast” philosophy, parting ways with people who didn’t align with his vision and commitment to trust and quality.
In just months, Clique has grown from a radical idea to reinvent social media to a trillion dollar industry disrupting app launching its beta version, a difficult feat for any tech startup.
By leading with real connection over superficial metrics, Clique is poised to redefine social media’s purpose, challenging the established social media giants to become the vital tool of families, friendships, and teams worldwide.
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