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Looking to learn all I can about the Ivy Connect. Another members club that is centered around folks who went to the ivy league. I think they have been around for 4 years. 3000 waitlist supposedly in nyc. Want to get an overall snapshot on them.
Hi! Thank you for your question about the Ivy Connect.
In short, IVY is a social university which provides curated experiences and connecting thoughtful individuals that include salon discussions with thought leaders, art nights, cocktail and dinner parties, film screenings, theater and symphony performances, fitness and wellness activities and getaways. It currently has 7 chapters and plans to expand internationally. It has raised $9.1 million in funding till date. It has an initial joining fee of $2,000 and a monthly membership of $80 ($1,000 annually). It expects to achieve $10 million revenue this year and has built a strong team of 70 to sustain the growth. While information on in-house staffing is not available, they have two full-time recruiters indicating that they might be doing in-house recruiting. I have provided a deep dive of my findings below.
IVY CONNECT
IVY is touted as the social university with a vision to build the world’s most impactful community across 50 global cities and unite everyone passionate about creating a better world. It seeks to unite thoughtful individuals through a lifetime of new inspiration and connections. Their curriculum focuses on Arts, Entrepreneurship, Policy, Well-being and Social Impact. Further, every month IVY members are invited to a wide variety of IVY gatherings that include salon discussions with thought leaders, art nights, cocktail and dinner parties, film screenings, theater and symphony performances, fitness and wellness activities and getaways. Over the last 3 years, IVY has built a team of 70 and established IVY as a leading community of entrepreneurs, artists, and innovators in the US. IVY currently has 20,000 members and 100,000 registrants with 7 chapters – New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Washington DC, Boston, and Miami – with plans to expand further. Led by two Harvard Business School graduates, they host over 1,000 experiences per year.
There is limited information on the Ivy Connect app. Its traffic distribution on Apple store is primary through search (49%), referrals (16.9%), social media (16.9%) followed by Direct (7.9%). Its audience is largely aged 25-34 (29.3%) followed by 18-24 (26.3%), 35-44 (22.2%), 45-54 (12.1%), 55-65 (7.1%) and 65+ (3%). 53% of visitors are male and 47% female. The primary access device is mobile (74%) followed by tablets (26%).
Its top competitors are Citysocializer, The College Board, Syvum Technologies, Scholarships, CampusLogic, Education Partners, and College Connection. The competitors in total have raised over $21.6 million and acquired a company collectively.
FUNDING
IVY has raised a total equity of $9.1 million in 4 rounds from 35 investors. Founded by Beri Meric and Philipp Triebel in January 2012, their latest funding round in Jun 2016 was for $3.1 million. They have some renowned investors such as Facebook, Spotify, and Uber as well as serial entrepreneurs with numerous successful exits. They also acquired CultureHorde in Dec 2015 for an undisclosed amount. CultureHorde was a private arts club changing the way people experience New York culture. It provided its members authentic, intellectual and moving cultural experiences. Their revenue model is based on membership fee. After the initial joining fee, the platform charges a monthly membership fee of $80 per month which includes access to an online directory of connections, social events across arts, entrepreneurship, policy, science and social impact as well as perks ranging from fitness classes and insider access to global gatherings. The company is projected to make $10 million in revenues. Another older source says that the company charges $500 annual membership fee and had $2 million in revenue. It makes sense that these have increased to the amount of $1000 per year and $10 million in revenue. A comment on another forum notes that the initial joining fee is a hefty $2000.
TEAM
The current team is Beri Meric and Philipp Triebel as Co-CEOs followed by Karolina Novitska who is the Creative Director, Paul Sabayrac who is the Senior Community Director and Julia Sommer who is the Senior Events Director. The information on staffing is not available even after extensive search on media articles and reports. However, they have two full-time recruiters – Nicole Lamberta and Michelle Yoon – which indicates that they may be doing in-house recruiting.
CONCLUSION
To conclude, IVY is a social university which provides curated experiences and connecting thoughtful individuals that include salon discussions with thought leaders, art nights, cocktail and dinner parties, film screenings, theater and symphony performances, fitness and wellness activities and getaways. It currently has 7 chapters and plans to expand internationally. It has raised $9.1 million in funding till date. It has an initial joining fee of $2,000 and a monthly membership of $80 ($1,000 annually). It expects to achieve $10 million revenue this year and has built a strong team of 70 to sustain the growth. While information on in-house staffing is not available, they have two full-time recruiters indicating that they might be doing in-house recruiting.
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