Her first began as an app to help lesbians find dates. In just a few years, CEO Robyn Exton has turned it into one of the largest communities for LGBTQ+ individuals in the world. Dating is the app’s primary purpose, but Her also helps users build friendships and develop a global support system.

Exton, who is originally from London, is now based in San Francisco. But we caught up with her during the first-ever London Queer Fashion Show (LQFS) in September. Exton also happens to be the CEO of the LQFS, which she dreamt up and brought to fruition in the span of just three months.

The idea of building a dating app for gay women first came to Exton in 2013. Fed up with the poorly designed and often shady dating sites targeted at lesbians, she decided to create something better. She remembers thinking, “Lesbians exist. It’s a box on forms. Why has no one made an app for us?”

She took coding classes in her spare time and, through a modest but lucky lottery win, decided to risk everything she had on a new way for lesbians to connect. She quit her job the day her first app was submitted to the App Store.

Exton's first attempt was a location-based dating app called Dattch – similar in function to Grindr, but for lesbians. She learned very quickly that the model that had worked so well for gay men did not work for women.

“When you have a female-only user base, it’s completely different. Loads of our users were looking for friendship much more than dating,” explains Exton. “They mostly just wanted to find other queer people to go to a bar with.”

Fast-forward to 2015. After several revisions, a handful of failures, and a complete overhaul of the brand, Exton was accepted into Silicon Valley’s prestigious Y Combinator startup accelerator with a new app called Her.

After securing funding during her spell at Y Combinator, Exton took an even bigger leap and permanently relocated her company to San Francisco.

Her risk paid off. But even with a growing team, events in 26 cities around the world and more than 2.5 million users, she doesn’t take anything for granted. “I could be mopping the floors on Saturday, pitching investors on Tuesday,” Exton says. "I do whatever needs to be done to keep this company going.”

Exton and her team have learned a lot from the community they serve. What started out as an app just for lesbians has evolved to prioritise inclusivity above all else.

The app welcomes anyone from the LGBTQ+ community. (In case you don't know, LGTBQ+ stands for lesbian, gay, transgender, queer, plus people of any other non straight or cisgender experiences and identities – including those who prefer not to be defined. And, by the way, cisgender means someone whose gender identity is aligned with whichever sex they are at birth.)

That inclusivity is paramount becomes clear the moment you create your profile in Her. Gender identity and sexuality are optional fields, and your choices are vast. The app supports more than 25 different gender expressions and lists over a dozen sexual preferences.

Once you’re inside the app, the Feed is where you want to be. You’ll find all types of events in your area, from casual hangouts to gatherings for political activism.

Exton tells us that in the past year, the Her community has come together to fight for LGBTQ+ issues. “The day of the election was the lowest usage we’d had in a year. The day of the inauguration was one of the highest because of the Women’s March.”

Her is a place to meet your new best friends, find a partner and even organise to change the course of history.

“It’s not just about me finding a girlfriend anymore,” Exton concludes. “It’s about making other people feel like they’re a part of something bigger.”