Technology company Krew Social is bringing its platform to Tampa General Hospital staff.
The Tampa-based organization, which was founded in St. Petersburg in 2021, has developed a mobile application that allows employees, college students, apartment residents and church members to build connections through micro-events and gatherings.
Users can create profiles that help them meet people within their organization that have similar interests or commonalities. The map-based platform will also allow participants to see if any suggested connections are attending certain events.
“You know which things to go to, you know who to talk to at each one and you know what to talk to them about,” said Krew Social founder and CEO Mike Chahinian.
This, he believes, helps reduce burnout and loneliness.
“The idea came from me moving a lot as a young professional,” Chahinian explained. “I dealt with this problem of having to build a group of new friends from scratch over and over again.”
The partnership between TGH and Krew Social began at an Embarc Collective meeting in February 2024. TGH Ventures, the hospital’s capital arm, and the company are both members of the Tampa-based startup hub.
About once a quarter, TGH Ventures holds “office hours” at Embarc Collective and startups have the opportunity to discuss potential collaborations, Chahinian said.
After Chahinian created a written proposal about what a partnership would entail, it was sent to the hospital’s human resources team. This led to a meeting with Qualenta Kivett, TGH executive vice president, and chief people and talent officer.
TGH Ventures would eventually become an investor in Krew Social.
The platform, which launched at TGH a few weeks ago, has been customized for the hospital’s staff. This required a “long development cycle,” Chahinian said.
Chahinian and his team built specific enterprise features for the app. This is important for the platform to “really prosper” in a large-scale environment, he explained.
For example, TGH employees can log into the app through their company Microsoft Windows accounts. The TGH version of the Krew Social platform also has custom branding and colors. Additionally, the hospital can determine who has permission to create micro-events or “hangouts.”
TGH will also use the app as a calendar for larger corporate events.
“The healthcare sector is one of the most intense sectors in the economy right now. It still has a very fast-paced hiring process and a shortage of workers,” Chahinian said.
“Burnout is also a significant issue, and so it’s a very good use case for what we do at Krew with helping people find belonging.”
Chahinian hopes the collaboration with TGH will “set the stage” to work with other healthcare organizations and large-scale corporations.
“Our partnership with Krew Social is a pivotal step in providing the team with a tool to connect both inside and outside of work to avoid the common feeling of loneliness that people feel across the nation,” said Kivett in a prepared statement.
“In addition to investing in competitive benefits, compensation and total rewards, we believe that investing in our team’s social well-being will continue to enhance the feeling of belonging that exists today.”