How Three Friends Built A Community Where Neighbours Share A Life, Not Just A Building (and Why They’re Not Charging More for It)

You know that feeling when you’re surrounded by people but still feel completely alone? That’s what it’s like in most apartment buildings these days. You pass the same faces in the hallway, maybe nod at the person waiting for the lift, but you don’t actually know anyone. Even the communal spaces feel empty of real connection – the gym is just a place to avoid eye contact while on the treadmill, and the so-called community room sits unused except for the odd package delivery.

For Gabriel Bar, Shani Bar and Bella Cohen, this disconnect wasn’t just an observation – it was their daily reality. Living in apartments where neighbours remained strangers, they watched as the promise of community living fell flat. The three friends, who would later become the founding team of Be Belong, noticed something that most people just accept: apartment living had become about sharing a building, not sharing a life.

When Frustration Became Purpose

Gabriel, now CEO of Be Belong, spent years watching property owners struggle with the same tired playbook. ‘We built Be Belong because owners deserve more options than “raise rent or fall behind,”‘ he explains. ‘Our AI uncovers income that’s hiding in plain sight and delivers it with zero friction to residents.’

The real breakthrough came when they realised the problem wasn’t just financial – it was human. Shani, who serves as President and Director of Philanthropy, brings a community-first perspective to the business. Her focus on reinvesting in local communities reflects the trio’s belief that technology should serve people, not the other way around. Meanwhile, Bella Cohen leads national expansion, but always with the understanding that growth means helping more people feel at home where they live.

The moment everything clicked was surprisingly simple. They were testing their platform and watched what happened when someone got a push notification about a new dog park club. ‘When a dog owner gets a push notification to join the new pet-park club, they feel seen,’ Bar explained. ‘That feeling keeps people home.’ It wasn’t about the notification itself – it was about the recognition that someone, somewhere, knew you had a dog and thought you might want to meet other dog owners.

Making the Ordinary Extraordinary

What Be Belong built isn’t revolutionary technology – it’s clever use of everyday interactions. Their platform works like a friendly concierge who actually pays attention. The AI learns that you always ask about parking, that you’re interested in yoga classes, or that you’ve been wondering about storage options. Instead of generic building-wide emails that everyone ignores, residents get personalised suggestions that feel genuinely helpful.

The system includes a conversational agent that handles routine questions, community clubs that form around shared interests, and gentle reminders about services that actually matter to individual residents. ‘Be Belong automates the other 95 percent,’ Bar notes, referring to the vast gap between what most properties offer and what residents actually want.

Here’s the clever bit: all this helpfulness generates income for property owners without anyone paying more. When residents spend time in the app, local advertising revenue gets shared with the building. When someone finally decides they do want that storage unit or cleaning service, it happens through the app at exactly the right moment – not through pushy sales tactics.

Research shows that typical apartment buildings only capture about 5% of their potential non-rent income. Most properties leave money on the table because they don’t know how to connect services with the people who want them. Building meaningful connections often requires understanding what people actually need rather than what we think they should want.

The Human Side of Technology

What makes Be Belong different isn’t the technology – it’s the philosophy behind it. Shani’s role as Director of Philanthropy isn’t just a title; it reflects their commitment to community building that goes beyond profit margins. The platform has a practical side that helps property owners increase income, but it also has a deeply personal mission: making home feel like home.

This matters more than most people realise. Research consistently shows that apartment living often leads to social isolation. The design of most buildings, the lack of genuine shared spaces, and the tendency for residents to retreat into their private units all contribute to a sense of disconnection. Standing alone in a crowd has become the default experience for many urban dwellers. Studies indicate that knowing even a few neighbours can significantly reduce loneliness and improve mental health.

The three founders understood this instinctively, probably because they’d lived it. They weren’t trying to solve a business problem – they were trying to solve a human problem. The business success became a byproduct of actually helping people feel more connected to where they live.

Growing Beyond the Original Vision

Be Belong is rolling out across apartment buildings nationwide, from Midwest housing to stabilised communities in the South. The company aims to serve over 100,000 units by the end of 2026, but the expansion isn’t just about scale – it’s about bringing their approach to different types of communities.

Upcoming features include cryptocurrency payments, better integration with smart locks, and more sophisticated service notifications. Each addition is designed to make daily life smoother without making it more complicated. The goal isn’t to add more technology to people’s lives, but to make the technology they already use more helpful.

Bella Cohen’s role in spearheading the national expansion reflects their understanding that different communities need different approaches. What works in a luxury building in Miami might not work in affordable housing in Ohio, but the core principle remains the same: small, thoughtful touches that make people feel recognised and valued. Belonging looks different for everyone, but the need for it is universal.

The Simple Truth About Connection

At its heart, Be Belong is about something surprisingly simple: the difference between living somewhere and belonging somewhere. The three founders took their own frustrations with faceless apartment living and turned them into a tool that helps thousands of people feel more connected to their communities.

It’s a reminder that the most meaningful solutions often come from personal experience, not market research. Gabriel, Shani and Bella weren’t trying to disrupt anything – they were trying to solve a problem they knew intimately. They wanted to come home to a place that felt like home, not just a place where they happened to sleep.

Friendship and connection have become more precious as technology has made us simultaneously more connected and more isolated. Here’s a story about three friends who used technology to bring people together. They’re not charging more for connection – they’re proving that community and profit can coexist, and that sometimes the best business ideas come from simply paying attention to what’s missing from your own life.