Tired of flaky dating culture, endless scrolling on dating apps and being stood up after making a nice dinner reservation, Jeff Wulkan founded Plus 1, an app where people post plans and approve another person to be their plus one.
“We’re bridging the gap between dating apps and group meet-ups,” said Wulkan.
Users post plans, receive requests and approve and meet their plus one at the agreed upon venue. Users can also request to join plans without having to post their own plans.
“People also use it to find collaborations on jobs,” Wulkan said of Plus 1, with headquarters in Brickell. “Realtors could use it to find clients or personal trainers could use it to find clients. It’s not just for dating or friends – it’s a lot more than that.”
He started building the app in January 2025 and launched the beta in June, followed by a full launch in August. So far, Plus 1 has about 8,000 downloads, with around 2,000 active users based in South Florida.
Wulkan put $180,000 of his money into the company and is trying to raise $1 million. “I have a very good feeling we’ll get most of it secured in the next month or two. We have some incredible investors coming to the events,” he said, referring to the Miami Music Week kick-off and the Florida Venture Capital Conference.
In New Jersey, where Wulkan was born and raised, he founded Bikini Barbers, where women in bikinis cut hair, which turned into a reality TV show in 2012, called Bikini Barbershop. He spent a little over a decade living in Los Angeles before moving to Miami three years ago. The former airline captain and entrepreneur also founded Mile High Wines and co-founded the clothing brand, Lighten Up a Little.
Prior to co-founding Plus 1, Angie Romasanta worked for the cloud-based software company, FilmTrack, doing royalty tracking for various companies. Her background is in visual design, advertising and project management. Wulkan’s team is small for now, with three independent contractors assisting in marketing, technology and business development.
“You could be the host and initiate the plan, or you could request to join the plan and be the plus one,” he said of how the app works. “We call them plans because events are too formal,” said Wulkan.
“Let’s say that I approve you to go to a Miami Heat game with me for next weekend and then you’re not being really responsive. I’ll approve the next person on the list,” he said. “You always have a backup plan just in case someone puts you in that flaky situation.”
Plus 1 is free for users but premium subscriptions for $9.99 per month will be offered in a few weeks, with users being able to approve more than one person for their plans. A platinum membership for $100 monthly will give users a “higher status” and background checks for people that apply to be their plus one. Wulkan said he also plans to integrate AI for a better experience for users.
When asked what makes Plus 1 stand out among other apps, Wulkan said that it levels the playing field for men “by making it about plans versus faces on profiles.”
For safety features, Wulkan said that users can’t see someone else’s profile unless they post a plan or request to join someone else’s plan. Users can also post a reliability score about the person they met with.
Their next target locations to market Plus 1 will be New York City, LA and possibly to expats in Ibiza and in Bali. “Our goal is to be all over the whole country by later this year,” said Wulkan.
Pictured above: Plus 1 co-founders Jeff Wulkan and Angie Romasanta
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Caitlin Granfield is a freelance journalist in South Florida. In addition to Refresh Miami, her articles, covering a variety of topics, can be found in the Miami Herald, Aventura Magazine, Miami New Times, WLRN and the Biscayne Times.
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