Marco Polo Launches Marco Polo Circles for Adult Friendships
News related to:Marco Polo · 2 min read
Marco Polo has launched a new program called Marco Polo Circles™, designed to help women form friendships based on their life stages and interests. The program, which is a paid, four-week initiative, uses face-to-face video connections to bring together small groups of women who share common experiences and challenges.
According to Marco Polo, the program is inspired by the millions of people who have used the company’s platform to maintain relationships regardless of physical distance. The Circles program aims to provide a structured environment where women can connect and build meaningful friendships.
Participants are matched into groups of five to eight women based on their life stage, relationship status, and identity. The company’s team reviews each response to a brief matchmaking survey and hand-matches participants to ensure they have commonalities such as being a new mom, a mom of school-age kids, an empty nester, or going through a major life transition.
Meagan Allers, Head of Community at Marco Polo, explained, "Making real friends as an adult has historically taken a lot of time and effort. Meeting women where they are has been our priority in building Marco Polo Circles. Real friendship, by video, on your schedule. No forced fun, no group chats that go nowhere, no waiting for plans that never get made. Just the right women showing up for each other."
Initial feedback from the program’s pilot phase is promising. More than 1,000 women participated in Circles before its official launch, and survey data from 285 participants revealed that 25% made a real friend inside their Circle, and 67% expressed a desire to participate again.
Vlada Bortnik, CEO and co-founder of Marco Polo, stated, "Marco Polo has always been about helping you feel close to the people you already know. The U.S. Surgeon General's 2023 advisory called social connection as essential to survival as food, water, and shelter. But when you need a friend who's in your stage of life, going through the same things you are, there hasn't been anywhere to go. We built Marco Polo Circles to be that place. And it's working."
To learn more about Marco Polo Circles, interested individuals can visit the program’s website at circles.marcopolo.me.