Grouper, the social club that sets up drinks between 2 groups of friends, launches in London

Two years after it first launched in New York, way back in September 2011, Grouper is finally arriving out of North America with its first European launch, in the UK capital London.

In terms of how it works, Grouper takes members and matches them up with someone from the opposite sex. Both parties are then tasked with finding two friends (of the same gender) to join them for drinks at a prearranged place. Grouper takes payment from everyone for the first round of drinks, and then the six amigos take it from there.

Before today, Grouper was available in 25 cities across the US, and also in Toronto, Canada. For its first foray into European territory, Grouper has teamed up with some of London’s key venues to host drinks for the groups, with participants paying £15 each in advance to cover the drinks.

“London is the ideal next stop for Grouper,” says Michael Waxman, founder and CEO of Grouper “It’s world-renowned for its dynamic nightlife and cosmopolitan population, and given the city’s size there are so many opportunities for young Londoners to broaden their horizons beyond where they live and work.”

Grouper says that its main objective is to introduce Grouper members to people they don’t know and to broaden social circles, but naturally it does lend itself well to group dates.

Grouper launched an iPhone app earlier this year, but this doesn’t seem to be available outside of North America at the time of writing.  For now, you can request Grouper membership by clicking here, and you will unfortunately require Facebook to use the service.

➤ Grouper