Chicago’s innovation economy yields a lot of singles and doubles, pragmatic, revenue-generating companies over flashy, bubbly unicorns. (And that’s just fine, thank you very much). But the masses (and the media) love the proverbial long ball and the city’s overdue for a home run. (Even J.B. Pritzker, one of the community’s biggest champions, admitted that Chicago probably needs a few more “sexy” startups in order to turn into a “massive tech ecosystem“).

So, stepping up to the plate – armed with a major swing – is Todd O’Hara, CEO and co-founder of Brunch, a new social messaging app. Brunch is a proximity-based message board, enabling friends to easily and effectively communicate with one another and see who’s doing what and where.

“It’s way too hard to see what your buddies are doing around you,” says O’Hara. “Brunch fills the role of social discovery, connecting you with your friends nearby. It’s one degree better than a group text.”

Via the app, users share what they’re up to with a designated group of friends that can be edited at any given time, allowing users to customize the receiving-end of a group chat on-the-fly. Followers are notified when a message is posted and can respond with a direct or group message. Users can also check to see who has viewed their messages so that they can initiate a conversation. Messages are automatically deleted after eight hours, forcing the app to retain its core functionality as a real-time connector and social service.

“We’re trying to launch a big time communications app in Chicago,” says O’Hara. “We know that’s rare and chances are slim; we don’t care. We’re going to sink or swim fast.”

To do so, O’Hara has taken an untraditional approach to financing. He’s raised a seed round from over 20 influential players in the city’s tech community – including Illinois Tech Association CEO Fred Hoch, Belly CTO Craig Ulliot, and Wintrust Ventures head Bailey Moore – and named each a founding member.

“We have over 30 founders,” says O’Hara. “That’s 30 people who are invested in the success of the product and have skin in the game.”

And O’Hara’s been in the game before, as well. He co-founded Toodalu in 2011, a loyalty startup that was one of 1871’s first three members and the first company to exit the incubator. (Toodalu was acquired by Chicago-based Spring Rewards in 2013). Though O’Hara knows that Brunch’s success will hinge on a fast start, his experience in loyalty has him focused on the product’s sustained value.

“Sixty-five percent of people who open an app, never use it again,” says O’Hara. “It’s not just about acquiring users – we learned how to do that with Toodalu. It’s about keeping people engaged. We’re building something that people will want to use repeatedly, over and over again.”

One of the reasons O’Hara expects people to do this is right there in its name.

“When we were testing the app, we saw that the highest activity was always on Saturday and Sunday morning. People were using it to organize brunch, so we named it that. Everybody loves brunch.”

Brunch will continue to roll out its app this Fall and the company is hosting a launch party, featuring a performance from Monakr, on Thursday, September, 10th.

(Images via the Brunch app)