Quarantine Buddy, founded by eLab alumni Jordyn Goldzweig ‘21 and Sam Brickman ‘21, recently made Washington Post headlines for its platform which helps forge online friendships by matching strangers impacted by the global pandemic. Quarantine Buddy has 50,000 registered users—ranging in age from 18 to 97—from every U.S. state and more than 100 countries. In addition to creating one-on-one connections, the platform also features group events, such as weekly book clubs and fantasy football conversations.
“We kind of realized how lonely and isolating this can be for so many people,” said Goldzweig. “The pandemic itself really brought out the fact that a lot of people are isolated, and even though we have technology, people aren’t utilizing it to meet other people. We really wanted to do our part.”
Cornell computer science students, Goldzweig and Brickman are no strangers to bringing people together. Prior to launching Quarantine Buddy, they created Zing, an online platform to help college students connect with one another in large lecture courses for study sessions or late-night assistance with assignments. After pitching at the 2019 Entrepreneurship at Cornell Kickoff, Zing won a spot in eLab. More recently, Goldzweig and Brickman participated in the Kessler Fellowship and have returned to eLab to further their work on Quarantine Buddy.
Read the full story on Quarantine Buddy and how it has connected others during COVID-19 in the Washington Post.