Outernet App Turns Social Media Saves Into Real-World Adventures

We’ve all been there: scrolling through TikTok, stumbling upon a viral restaurant recommendation or an indie art event, hitting save, and then never thinking about it again. Danielle Egan and Athena Leong, the creative minds behind San Francisco’s beloved “Pursuit” scavenger hunt and a literal “sit club” for relaxation enthusiasts, are betting there’s a massive market for solving this exact problem.

Their new app, Outernet, launched just two months ago with a deceptively simple mission: remove the friction between wanting to do something and actually going out to do it. The name itself is a clever play on words, using the internet as a tool to get you outside into the real world.

From Viral Pranks to Product Vision

Egan and Leong aren’t typical startup founders emerging from a Silicon Valley accelerator. Their credentials are built on playfulness. They’ve organized citywide scavenger hunts, turned viral pranks into exclusive NYC pop-up restaurants, and created social experiences that prioritize connection over competition. This background isn’t just flavor text for their origin story; it’s fundamental to what makes Outernet different from competitors like Albo, Tabi, or Plotline.

“In my free time, I’m very passionate about getting people to go outside and do things,” Egan explains, contrasting her former product role at LinkedIn with her personal mission. “I just love capturing attention in unexpected ways and delivering delightful things.”

When designing the “Pursuit” scavenger hunt three years ago, something unexpected emerged from talking with participants. People weren’t showing up because they loved adventure games or treasure hunts specifically. They just wanted an excuse to go outside, to have something to do together. That revelation became the thesis for Outernet: be the “motivation engine for IRL.”

How It Works

The mechanics are straightforward. When you see something interesting on Instagram, TikTok, or any website, you share it to Outernet instead of just saving it in the app’s native save feature. You can also paste URLs or upload photos of flyers you spot in the wild. The app’s AI then extracts relevant details like dates, times, locations, and activity descriptions.

Everything gets organized into a chronological feed for dated events, with separate tabs for activities and places without specific dates. Want a physical reminder? You can sync events to Apple Calendar or Google Calendar, and Outernet will send nudges encouraging you to actually follow through.

Perhaps most intriguingly, users can “stamp” places as they visit them in real life, building what Egan describes as a personal passport. The founders are exploring passport-style documentation that you could share with friends and use for traditional gamification elements like milestone badges. It transforms casual exploration into something worth celebrating.

A Business Model Built on Attention

The startup is already profitable after just two months, powered by a premium subscription tier ($6.99 per month or $39.99 annually) that lets users save more items daily. With around 18,000 users currently, the team is moving fast and experimenting constantly.

What’s particularly smart about Outernet’s positioning is how the founders see themselves as connectors between grassroots community organizers and the broader public. “There are so many incredible community events, and being community organizers ourselves, we’re very plugged into that scene,” Egan notes. “What’s hard is these boots on the ground are hosting amazing events, and they just don’t know how to reach people because marketing is such a different skill set.”

They’re already in casual conversations with investors about scaling, though they’re being selective about who joins them on this journey. “We want investors who are really aligned with us,” Leong says. “We’re whimsical, and we have to find investors that match.”

The app is currently invite-only on iOS, with an Android waitlist. It’s a deliberate move to maintain quality and control the user experience as they grow.

There’s something refreshing about a startup founded on the principle that technology should encourage us to disconnect from our screens and experience the world more fully. In an era when most apps are designed to keep you scrolling indefinitely, Outernet’s entire value proposition is getting you to put the phone down and go have an adventure.

Source: TechCrunch

Could this be the app that finally transforms your endless “save for later” collection into an actual lifestyle change?