A year ago, Grivio was a quiet bet.
We'd spent all of 2024 building, late nights, rewrites, "is this even going to work?" conversations. By December, we had a platform. What we didn't have was any idea if anyone would care.
2025 answered that question.
What Actually Happened
Let me give you the numbers first, because they're real and they matter:
391 communities found a home here
1,717 users signed up to explore them
985 posts shared
505 comments in conversation
1,512 likes saying "yes, this"
We shipped constantly. Feature releases, quality-of-life updates, countless bug fixes. We moved from grivio.com to griv.io. We launched our auction system. We added platform after platform, 55+ now, because communities no longer live in one place.
Oh, and we trademarked Grivio. Both the name and the logo are now officially registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. It's a small thing, but it felt like a moment, a signal that this isn't a side project anymore. It's real.
But here's the thing about numbers: they don't capture what this year actually felt like.
The Moment It Became Real
There's a specific feeling when you build something in isolation and then watch strangers decide it matters to them. It's not just relief. It's something closer to gratitude mixed with disbelief.
People started showing up. Not because we asked them to, but because they found us and thought, "finally, something that gets it."
Null from DisGalaxy was one of the first to really dig in. They didn't just use Grivio; they tested it, broke it, told us what sucked, and helped us fix it. That's not a user. That's a collaborator.
Vucaluna saw what we were building and reached out to help translate the site. Think about that. Someone believed in this enough to volunteer their time, making it accessible to more people.
Fawn left a testimonial that still gets me: "Shylor works extremely hard every day to help creators." That's not about the platform. That's about the relationship.
And then there were the calls.
What the Calls Taught Me
This year, I had dozens of one-on-one conversations with community builders. People running gaming servers, creative collectives, niche hobby groups, and professional networks. Some calls were troubleshooting. Some were strategy sessions. Many were just two people talking about why community matters so much.
Every single conversation taught me something. About what people actually need (often simpler than I assumed). About what's broken in how communities get discovered (basically everything). About why someone would pour hours into building a space for others (because finding your people changed their life, and they want to pay it forward).
If we talked this year, thank you. You shaped what Grivio is becoming.
The Team Behind This
I need to discuss the team briefly.
Building something unproven is a weird ask. "Hey, want to work on this thing that might not matter to anyone?" And yet people said yes. They tracked down bugs at odd hours. They reached out to communities personally. They believed in something with no guarantee of success.
You know who you are. Thank you doesn't cover it, but: thank you.
What's Coming
We're not done. Not even close.
2026 brings team management; the ability to add members to your community who can help with day-to-day tasks. No more one-person bottlenecks. Your community, your team, your way.
And there's more on the horizon. Things I can't talk about yet. But if 2025 taught us anything, it's that we're building something people actually want.
It's still an uphill climb.
We're a small team. The internet is loud. Getting discovered, ironically, the exact problem we're trying to solve for communities, is hard for us, too.
Every community that joins, every person who shares us with a friend, every piece of feedback that helps us improve; it matters more than you know. We're not backed by venture capital. We're supported by you.
Looking Back, Looking Forward
A year ago, we had a platform and a hope.
Now we have 391 communities, a growing group of people who believe in this, and proof that the idea works. Not at scale yet. Not without challenges. But real.
Nullight said it better than I can: "There simply isn't anything like this anywhere. Now when I wake up each day, I feel a little more connected."
That's why we built this. That's why we'll keep building.
Here's to everyone who showed up in 2025. And to everyone who will be in 2026.
We're just getting started.
~ Shylor
Want to be part of what's next? Add your community to Grivio or just explore what's here. We'd love to have you.