Forbes has named the co-founders
of an LGBT youth networking app to its list of 30 Under 30
entrepreneurs in consumer technology.
Out co-founders Thomas McAfee and
Michael Belkin, both 29, launched Distinc.tt in 2014.
“Distinc.tt claims to be the world's
largest and most active network of LGBT youth, a place where they can
connect with each other, express themselves, and safely explore their
identity,” Forbes
wrote. “McAfee raised $1 million from the likes of Peter
Thiel, Keith Rabois, Stanford University's StartX, Harvard Innovation
Lab, AOL First Floor Labs and Mass Challenge.”
The Wall Street Journal
described the app as “Foursquare meets Facebook for the LGBT
community.”
“Gay people have special needs from
technology,” Belkin told gay glossy The Advocate last year.
“We saw that people were posting about things that they needed
support for, such as, 'I just came out to my parents and they didn't
take it well. What do I do now?' Or trans youth posting, 'I'm not
comfortable in my own body.' The community was helping, but we
wanted to do more.”
According to The
Advocate, the Distinc.tt user's median age is 16.