After starting a career in brand design and strategy, Exton spotted the hugely underserved market of LGBTQ+ womxn and queer folks, and decided to do something about it. While living in London she created the first dating app designed and built for LGBTQ+ womxn – HER. The company has since grown to build products and experiences that connect queer womxn in the way that works best for them. Their app is home to 7 million people in 113 countries, with dating and community connections, and their events run in 15 cities, hosting 50,000 people per year. HER has been based in San Francisco since moving for Y Combinator and raising investment from leading Silicon Valley investors.
While developing events for HER, Exton saw the growth of queer fashion platforms and events and knew that London had one of the most unique and evocative fashion communities that needed to create its own queer fashion platform. The London Queer Fashion Show started to form, bringing together fashion leaders and community builders alike to create the world class event. LQFS is now a platform to showcase London’s leading LGBTQ+ designers and community. With 10 designers, 120 models and 1000 attendees, LQFS is showing the fashion industry what true representation and inclusivity looks like.
Exton is a former contributing tech editor at Elle UK, and has also been a board member for The Yacht Week and Ski Week, connecting people through travel and adventure tourism.
Robyn Exton – M14 Dating Conference Keynote on Creating HER, the Dating App
Robyn Exton – The Family Keynote on Creating HER, the Dating App
Robyn Exton – M14 Dating Conference Keynote on Creating HER, the Dating App
Robyn Exton’s Speech Topics
Inclusive By Default
Building a business that is inclusive and thoughtful of all identities is available to everyone. From small decisions to bold statements, building a company culture and a product that considers all aspects of an individual, from gender and sexuality to race and religion, we have an opportunity to create products and services that make all feel seen and accepted.
HER is the world’s first platform for lesbian, bisexual and queer womxn, non-binary, gender nonconforming and trans people. Not exactly your typical Silicon Valley startup. From moving to Silicon Valley, joining the leading accelerator Y-Combinator, to raising venture funding and scaling the business to over 7 million users, HER has set a path from LGBTQ+ folks that simply didn’t exist before. HER has been sharing the importance of queer inclusion, awareness and acceptance with many who thought it simply wasn’t possible.