UnboxingBLR launches HangOut.in to help Bengaluru find its communities

In a city where conversations often begin with traffic complaints and end with startup pitches, Bengaluru’s quieter transformation has been happening elsewhere — inside walking groups, reading circles and neighbourhood communities built by people trying to feel less alone. UnboxingBLR, the not-for-profit initiative focused on documenting the city’s cultural landscape, is now attempting to bring those scattered ecosystems together through HangOut.in, a discovery platform for communities, events and shared-interest groups across Bengaluru. Fresh off the launch of the platform, we catch up with Malini Goyal, co-founder of UnboxingBLR, to speak about belonging, loneliness and why she believes Bengaluru functions as a social sandbox for the country.

Building communities beyond algorithms

“This is a digital public infrastructure we are building for the people of Bengaluru,” Malini notes, distinguishing HangOut.in from commercial ticketing or event-booking platforms. Unlike profit-driven aggregators, she says the platform is designed to help residents discover communities based on geography, interests and accessibility. “You could be a 100-member community, a 20-member community or a 10,000-member community. We don’t differentiate,” she adds.

For Malini, the platform emerged from a growing sense that Bengaluru’s communities existed in silos despite the city’s reputation for openness. “If I’m into chess and I want to know like-minded people in my area, this is a platform that enables that,” she shares. She repeatedly emphasises on the phrase “engineering serendipity” — the belief that communities create accidental encounters and a sense of belonging within an increasingly fragmented urban life.

“Loneliness is a global epidemic,” Malini reflects. “The platform is about helping people find their tribe,” she continues, explaining that she hopes HangOut.in can connect residents through shared interests rather than algorithms alone. For her, Bengaluru’s true identity lies not merely in its tech economy but in the unpredictable interactions it enables. “Think of Bengaluru as a sandbox for the country. A city where you can innovate, build a new service and experiment,” she concludes.

(Anoushka Kundu is an intern at Indulge, Bengaluru)

Email: indulge@newindianexpress.com

X: @indulgexpress