Hey! We have the best.news.ever for all of our amazing vinas around the world (yes, that’s you!). After announcing our Hey! VINA vision to create a women-only “Tinder for (girl) friends” in January 2016, and getting an INSANE amount of worldwide enthusiasm for it, we raised funding from some top VCs, and got to work building out the future of women supporting women through technology. A lot has changed around the world since that crazy first week we were trending on the App Store, were covered in hundreds of TV, print, and digital media outlets, and got our first 100,000 sign ups for the app. A year later, we saw the rise of the Women’s March movement, #metoo, #TimesUp, and the naming of loneliness as the #1 health epidemic making our work more important than ever. As a team, this inspired us to grow even more dedicated to building the worlds best way for women to come together, build meaningful connections, and meet up to spend time with each other offline.
So, today we could not be more excited to announce that we’re officially out of beta, with the release of Plans, our new way to meet through group events and a tool for meeting up with friends new and old offline, the addition of 15 new communities, our first (and most demanded!) premium membership feature, VINA VIP, to preview your Hey!s and instant match, 3 more quizzes, and adding the ability to signup with your Instagram account!
Read on to learn more about all this awesomeness…
MAKE PLANS
A little while back, I was on a vina date, and she asked me, “are you going to the vina wine party tonight?” I was like, “WHAAAA!! What wine party!!?” My vina date explained to me that she matched with a vina on the app, and she invited her to a wine party at her house that she throws every month to bring together her friends outside Hey! VINA and her matches. So, I totally crashed the party… and it was awesome! We started hearing other stories pour in about fun group outings happening through hard organizing hacks of texting and Facebook and other annoying steps to bring together vinas who found each other through the app and integrating in your existing friends. So that’s when it hit me, we need to build this!
Starting today, you can make plans through the app in our super handy Plans feature—woo! All you do is tap “create new event,” or the calendar icon from from the Plans tab or a message with a vina you want to meet up with, and you can either choose from our suggested activities like happy hour, brunch, manicure, running, and so many more, or customize your own.
From there, it’s easy: You set the date, time, location and then invite one vina or a few from your Vinas List (that’s your private list of favorite matches and Facebook friends), or create an open invite. What’s an open invite, you ask? Basically, an open invite is your chance to host anyone in your area (think 🙋yoga in the park, or 🍷Wine Down Wednesdays🍷) that other vinas who live near you can see on the app and attend. It’s also another way to meet some badass vinas in your area without swiping and messaging and coordinating!
Once a plan is set, you can share the event through text, Facebook, email, and more. As vinas RSVP, you can discuss the plan on the plans page. Oh, and you can easily add the event to your calendar as well. If you want to make sure your plan is a success, read this!
You know that our mission at VINA is to help you find and meet and hangout with all the incredible women around you. It’s the way we start living our best life ever—and what better way to do it than to give you the tools you need to make super fun plans for you and your vinas! Want to try it out? Head there and then come back for the rest!
MORE COMMUNITIES
Here’s a heavy admission, I went through a divorce last year. It was rough, and as much as I love my friends, none of them had ever been through anything this before, and I found myself wishing I had friends who could relate to what I was going through. As the Hey! VINA community grows, we need to continue to make easier to find the exact vinas you need at the moment, and to do this we needed to expand the variety of life experiences, hobbies, life stages, and lifestyle communities available.
Get ready for it— after a lot of discussion with our members, we added 15 more communities for you to join and browse new vinas in!
Here’s full rundown: Athletes, Artists & Designers, Cancer Survivors, Cat Owners, Divorcees, Engaged, Fashionistas, Foodies, Gamer Girls, Homebodies, Married, Mary Janes, New Moms, Pregnant, and Vegans & Vegetarians.
No matter what you’re into it, or what stage of life you’re at, your tribe is waiting for you.
This is just a start, so if you don’t see the community you’re looking for, write us (support@vina.io) and let us know!! You can join as many communities as you want and you can filter your card deck to swipe exclusively in a Community, too.
SEE WHO SWIPED RIGHT ON YOU
Want to see all the vinas who have viewed your profile or swiped right on you? Or do you want to instant match with a vina you have your eye on? Do you want to get a lifetime membership to ALL of our future VIP features? We thought so!
Memberships renew on a weekly, 3 month, or 6 month basis, or vinas can purchase a unlimited lifetime membership to all VINA VIP features.
Signing up also supports the future of tech for women, by women… so become a VINA VIP!
VINAZINE BETTER THAN EVER + QUIZZES
If you haven’t noticed already, we’ve been up to some pretty cool stuff around here—from all new content to intimate Q&As to fun vina date ideas. We want to bring you the content that makes you say “YAS!” and then immediately text the article link to your vinas. We’re here to be your friend when life gets tough or when there’s something that definitely needs to be celebrated. We want to empower you with everything you need to go after what you want in life, whether it’s answering your burning career questions, managing a friendship breakup, or finding your calm amongst the chaos of life.
On the app version of VINAZINE, you’ll find our fun personality quizzes. We just added a few more like, “What’s your real age?” and “What hairstyle is so you?”— expect a lot more a lot more often, too! Don’t forget to share your results!
SIGN UP WITH INSTAGRAM
You asked, we delivered! Since day one we’ve been requiring you signup for Hey! VINA with a Facebook account. It’s how we verified you’re a real person, and also how we vetted you not being a sneaky dude trying to scam us. I’m excited to say, we’re expanding our signup ability with Instagram login! You can now use your Instagram account to signup for VINA. With a waiting list of hundreds of thousands of vinas who want to login without a Facebook, this is a big deal, and will mean a lot more vinas to meet near you!
So if you’ve got Insta and you’re not on VINA yet, what are you waiting for? Create an account and start building your girl gang now!
Phew, well that wraps it all up…for now! Enjoy the new features, let us know what you think by dropping us a line at hey@vina.io and look for more improvements and fun in the near future. Call us butter because we’re on a roll…and we’ve got zero plans to slow down, vinas.
XOXO
VINAZINE 
Exciting news. Thanks, Olivia! I’m looking forward to using the Plans feature, what an awesome idea.
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All of this sounds amazing
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