What is The Analog Circle?

The Analog Circle is a curated friendship community for expats in Berlin. Members are matched into an Inner Circle of eight vetted people who meet for dinner once a month, in each other's homes, for a year, with monthly one-to-one adventures, community experiences and a private WhatsApp group alongside. It is not a meetup. It is the same eight people, on purpose.

Most ways of meeting people in Berlin introduce you to someone once. We do the opposite. You apply, we talk to you, and if you are a fit we place you in a circle of eight expats chosen for shared interests, how close you live to each other, and a balance of nationalities and genders. That circle meets for a hosted dinner on the first Saturday of every month, in a different member's home each time, with a conversation guide so the evening goes somewhere. Over a year that adds up to eight dinners, a dozen one-to-one adventures, and a group of people who know your story. Our mission is to make loneliness a choice.

1. Apply. A short application. Every one is read by a person.
2. A 15-minute call. We get to know you, answer your questions and tell you the price upfront. If we have a circle that fits, we invite you to join.
3. Join the community. Once you have paid, you are in the private WhatsApp community the same day, and can come to community experiences immediately.
4. Get placed in your Inner Circle. Our team forms your circle of eight, usually within 90 days. You get the hosting roster for the year and calendar invites for every dinner.
5. Show up. First Saturday of the month, 4 to 7pm, in a member's home. Eight times a year. In between, a monthly one-to-one adventure with someone from your circle, and community hikes, retreats and member-led evenings.

• Inner Circle dinners. Eight a year, hosted in rotation in members' homes, with themed guides for hosts and guests.
• Monthly one-to-one adventures. We pair you with one member of your circle each month to explore Berlin together.
• Community experiences. Hikes, picnics, retreats and more, open to every circle.
• Member-led experiences. Karaoke, comedy, birthdays, cooking; whatever members organise.
• A private WhatsApp community from day one, for coordinating experiences and getting help with life in Berlin.
• Curation and logistics done for you. We find the people and handle the calendar. You show up.

Expats living in Berlin, aged 25 to 48, who are kind, reliable and willing to commit: to a year in the city, to showing up for monthly dinners, and to hosting once a year.

• Our members are mostly in their thirties or forties
• Mostly introverts and ambiverts
• Mostly people who have lived in Berlin for years and are tired of starting over
• Working in technology, consulting, design, research and the arts
• From more than 25 countries

Who it is not for

• People who are not expats, or who do not live in Berlin.
• Anyone under 25 or over 48.
• People looking for networking, dating or group therapy. This is none of those.
• Anyone who cannot commit to showing up. A circle of eight only works if eight people come.

Membership is billed annually. The list price is €650 a year. During our founding period it is €400 a year paid in full, locked in for life for anyone who joins now, or €150 today and €300 after your third dinner (€450 in total). There is no free trial; if you want to see the community first, come to a community experience.

The fee covers the curation, finding and vetting the right eight people, and the organisation of everything you attend. You are not paying for friendships. You are paying for the infrastructure that makes real friendships easy.

• The Analog Circle Guarantee. Attend at least one of your first three Inner Circle dinners and one community experience, and if it is not worth it, we refund you in full. Requests within seven days of the third dinner.
• Placement guarantee. If you are not seated in a circle within 90 days of joining, you get a full refund and first place in line for the next cohort.
• One free re-match. If your circle does not feel right, we move you to another once, up to seven days after the third dinner.

• Not networking. Nobody is here for your job title.
• Not dating. Circles are mixed and that is not what they are for.
• Not group therapy. We are not clinicians, though members do support each other.
• Not a casual meetup. The whole point is that you commit and the same people come back.

I moved to Berlin in March 2020, during Corona, from Lagos, a city full of family, friends and noise. I did not speak German, I had no friends here, I lived alone and worked from home. On paper I was doing well. In practice I was lonely and depressed. What pulled me out was a small group of people who kept showing up, for me and I for them. They have been to my wedding and I to theirs. The Analog Circle is an attempt to build that deliberately, for expats who do not have it yet.

~ Bolu Ajibawo, founder. Meet the team.