CNBC - Sep 2 - Lunchclub is one of those companies, along with Zoom, that became more helpful after the coronavirus emerged. When it was started in 2017, Lunchclub encouraged people to meet in person, in San Francisco, New York and other cities. Then it went virtual in March. Instead of recommending places where two people could have lunch or coffee when making introductions over email, it sent links for talking on Google Meet. There are now tens of thousands of meetings happening each week, 10 times more than before the pandemic, said Lunchclub's co-founder and CEO, Vlad Novakovski. The 15-person start-up recently raised $24.2M at a valuation ~$100M in a round led by Coatue and Lightspeed Venture Partners.