Daniel Gendelman founded his first startup, the invite-only dating app Raya, on the premise that an aspirational class of singles would pay to access a vetted community of like-minded daters who had been personally recommended by other members of the app. In today’s saturated online dating landscape, this touch of exclusivity has been its USP.

Now, Gendelman is extending this ethos of trusted recommendation to his second venture, Places, a new travel app. Places began as a test feature for travel reviews and restaurant reservations within Raya that members loved so much it warranted a separate product, Gendelman says