As the co-owner and co-founder of La Providencia in Passaic, Lilia Rios understands
the challenges small business face.
Name recognition and awareness top the list, she said — especially if you don’t have
marketing budget.
That’s why months ago, when Rios began thinking about who will benefit from the influx
of dollars around the World Cup, she realized that small businesses will miss out.
Crowdy is an attempt to correct that.
The app, which is free to join, will help tourists and shoppers gain a better
understanding of the business around them when they are in a new location. (Join here)
That awareness, Rios said, could help bring new business, especially from out-of-
towners.
“I realized that many local businesses were not going to be discovered by visitors from
around the world, not because they lacked quality, culture, or value but because nobody
could see them digitally,” she said. “That became the trigger for Crowdy.”
The app, which launched Friday night at the raucous party at La Fortaleza in Carlstadt,
enables users to:
1. Discover faster: Users open Crowdy to instantly discover local hotspots, food,
drinks, match watches, nightlife, shopping, events and curated experiences happening
around them in real time, saving time and making it easier to decide where to go before
they head out.
2. Connect through experiences: Local businesses can create profiles, promote
events, upload rewards, offers and promotions with direct calls to action that help attract
both local customers and international visitors looking for authentic and trusted
experiences
3. Explore with confidence: Through Hotspots Maps, Spotlight recommendations,
Rewards and curated city experiences, Crowdy provides users with accurate
information, directions, event details, offers and everything they need to know before
they go.
4. Experience a city like a local: Crowdy connects people, brands and communities
through real-world experiences, transforming cities into interactive social and cultural
destinations ahead of global events like the FIFA World Cup 2026, while also providing
consular support resources and visitor assistance for international users through the
platform.
Rios spoke to BINJE before, during and after the big party. Here’s more of the
conversation, presented in an edited question-and-answer format.
***
BINJE: Why did you decide to start Crowdy?
Lilia Rios: I realized the true heart of our towns and cities are the small businesses, the
mom-and-pop shops, the family-owned restaurants, the local cafés, the neighborhood
businesses that give identity and energy to a community. But those were also the
businesses that were becoming invisible.
That realization hit me hard while thinking about the FIFA World Cup 2026 and the
millions of visitors that will come to the New Jersey/New York region.
The reality is that most small businesses didn’t really have a shot at visibility. If you
weren’t paying large advertising budgets or constantly fighting algorithms, your business
simply wasn’t being seen.
Platforms like Google Maps prioritize businesses based on advertising structures, SEO
dominance, reviews, and algorithmic positioning, and many incredible local businesses
get buried underneath larger corporations with bigger marketing budgets.
BINJE: Take us through the creation process?
Lilia Rios: At the beginning, the idea was simple: Create a platform that helps local
businesses finally be seen by both locals and global visitors.
I wanted to create something where businesses didn’t have to pay hundreds or
thousands of dollars just for the opportunity to exist online.
So, instead of waiting for giant tech corporations to decide who deserves visibility, I
decided to build my own platform. A platform designed for the businesses that actually
give life to cities.
That’s one of the reasons why business can join Crowdy at no cost. Because this was
never only about monetization for me. It was about creating access and opportunity.
I wanted immigrant-owned businesses, family-owned businesses, restaurants, cafés,
food trucks, nightlife venues, artists, event organizers, and local entrepreneurs to finally
have a real chance to be discovered without needing massive advertising budgets.
BINJE: You are a proud Mexican-American business leaders. Your husband, Francisco
Del Toro, is the leader of the American Mexican Regional Chamber of Commerce. Is
this app just for the Mexican community?
Lilia Rios: Crowdy absolutely embraces and celebrates the Hispanic and Latino
community because that’s part of who I am and where I come from. As a Mexican-
American entrepreneur in New Jersey and New York, I deeply understand the energy of
our communities: the food culture, music, nightlife, family traditions, sports culture, local
businesses, and entrepreneurial spirit that make our neighborhoods special.
But Crowdy was never meant to stay inside one demographic. The vision is much
bigger.
Crowdy is for anyone who wants to experience the city in a more authentic way. Cities
are multicultural by nature. And Crowdy is designed to reflect that.
A Latin festival … a French café … an Italian street fair … a European concert … a
soccer watch party … a Pride event … a local farmers market.
All of these belong inside the same urban ecosystem.
The Latino community is naturally one of my strongest launch audiences because of my
roots and relationships, but my long-term vision is mainstream and global.
BINJE: What do you hope will be the result of Crowdy?
Lllia Rios: I hope Crowdy changes the way people experience cities.
Right now, most people experience cities transactionally: You go somewhere. You
leave.
That’s it.
I want cities to feel alive again. I want Crowdy to become the connective layer between
people, local business, culture, tourism and real-world experiences.
For users, I want Crowdy to answer one simple question: “What’s happening around me
right now that’s actually worth experiencing?”
But beyond technology, I believe people are craving something deeper right now: real-
world connection.
People want community again.
People want experiences again.
People want human interaction again.
Crowdy is being built to bring people back into the real world.
BINJE: We’ll give you the final word.
Lilia Rios: I’m not trying to build another social media app. I’m building urban
experience infrastructure. At its core, Crowdy is about visibility, economic movement,
and community activation.
That’s why our philosophy became: “Crowdy, The City Is the Platform. Experiences
Don’t Happen. They’re Designed.”
