Kae Porter, founder of Amicii 

Sydney-based Kae Porter thrives on connecting people. So, it’s no surprise that this former legal industry marketer and award-winning PR agency owner has become a passionate tech entrepreneur. As the founder of Amicii, Australia’s first social experience marketplace, she is on a mission to put hospitality back at the heart of human connections.

Amicii is not another social networking platform, it’s designed to bring people together in real life. By blending digital innovation with our innate desire for face-to-face interactions, Amicii fosters meaningful social connections over shared dining experiences, while also supporting local hospitality businesses.

“Put simply, this is not a dating app,” Kae explains. “It’s an authentic way to meet new people, create friendships, and socialise. Hence the name, which is derived from the Italian word for friends.”

The idea for Amicii was born from Kae’s own experiences. When her adult children moved out, she found herself eager to rediscover Sydney’s vibrant dining scene but often lacked the right company.

“For probably the last two decades, people have gone deeper into the online world, and we are told we are more connected than ever before,” she says. “But in reality, we’ve systematically removed so many of the natural opportunities for serendipitous connections that used to happen in everyday social life.”

Life transitions, whether becoming an empty nester, relocating for work, or simply experiencing shifts in social circles, can leave people feeling disconnected. Rather than accept this as the new normal, Kae saw an opportunity to bridge that gap and solve her own problem of how to meet new people.

“We all go through changes that disrupt our social networks,” she says. “And we’re left asking ourselves, ‘What do I do now?’ I realised that enjoying great hospitality venues shouldn’t depend on whether you have someone to go with. So rather than be frustrated, I created Amicii to help people find genuine social connections.”

Amicii offers flexibility—users can join a gathering solo, with a friend, or even with their partner. The platform puts users, or diners, and venue partners in control of curating their experiences, deciding where, when, and how they want to connect.

“Think of it like the Airbnb of social gatherings,” Kae says. “It’s about bringing people back together in real life but in a way that makes sense in the digital age.”

Currently being piloted in Sydney’s Northern Beaches, Kae envisions Amicii growing into a global movement—one that helps people rediscover the joy of human connection and rebuilds the social fabric that has frayed in recent years.

When it comes to advice for other women pursuing their goals, Kae’s message is clear: don’t get distracted by the noise.

“It’s easy to get caught up in debates, statistics, and rhetoric about the barriers women face,” she says. “Those barriers do exist, but if we focus too much on them, we risk discouraging ourselves from pushing forward.”

Instead, she encourages women to challenge convention.

“For every industry, there’s a set of ‘rules’ for how things should be done, but that doesn’t mean they’re the right way or the best way. If you can’t get a satisfactory answer to ‘why,’ then maybe it’s time to make different decisions.”

With Amicii, Kae Porter is doing just that—rewriting the rules of social networking by bringing people back to what truly matters: real-world connections.