John will always remember his first Raya date.
He met the girl at her million-dollar NYC condo, paid for by her father who, she occurred to say, had lately flown one of many presidential candidates on his personal airplane.
“Within minutes, she got naked, handed me her phone and asked me to photograph her. She had floor-to-ceiling windows and her doorman was watching us from [the street],” says John. (Names have been modified to guard courting viability and Raya membership.)
“The app’s incredible,” he says.
And extremely unique.
Launched in March, Raya shortly turned often known as the web courting app for all of the individuals too cool to on-line date. It’s a digital Soho Home with a curated membership of artist and mannequin varieties, and, after all, a couple of celebrities thrown in for good measure.
Joe Jonas, Kelly Osbourne, Moby, DJs Skrillex and Diplo, “Catfish” host Nev Schulman, Raven-Symoné and mannequin/celeb scion Patrick Schwarzenegger have all been noticed on the app. Some “Dancing With the Stars” execs are allegedly members, as is movie director Paul Haggis. Final month, Web page Six reported that Courtney Love and her 15-years-younger new boyfriend, director Nicholas Jarecki, are on Raya.
“I saw Matt Perry,” says a 30-year-old feminine who works in actual property in NYC, citing the “Friends” star. “We matched,” she provides, nonplussed.
When you obtain the app, you’ll be able to apply for membership. Purposes are judged by a person’s general Instagram affect and what number of lively Raya members observe them. An nameless committee decides who’s in and who’s out. It prices $7.99 a month for the privilege of being on Raya, however some who rating extremely with the committee are given complimentary memberships.
“It’s all the models that I shoot but can’t ask out because I’m in a professional setting,” says one 30-something downtown photographer. “There are some people on there that I question every now and then, but it’s a population . . . with a hell of a lot of nines and 10s.”
Raya founder Mike McGuiness, 35, who owns Los Angeles p.r. firm the Co-Op Company, declined to talk to The Submit.
Different Raya staffers have but to offer an interview or expose their identities. A supply informed The Submit the creators are guys in LA who, as a part of their enterprise mannequin, dole out fairness to tastemakers to recruit expertise.
“[The app’s] got this whole ‘Fight Club’ vibe to it,” says Henry Lihn, 35, a startup marketing consultant and Raya member. “They send out updates: You can’t publicly out people, you can’t screenshot. Really, the company is doing everything it can to create a disruptive exclusive experience.”
However whereas Lihn thinks the founders have “nailed” the clubbish surroundings, he predicts Raya’s days are restricted — no less than among the many elite.
“It’s a small pond and it gets saturated very quickly,” says one Raya member. “For the more pretentious of us, it’s done.”
“Well bless their hearts.”
