Closed invite-only groups? Live streaming and invite only on Geneva.com

Geneva.com is a new all-in-one social platform designed for communication in groups, clubs, and communities. It enables creating spaces where users can freely chat, discuss on forums, organize audio/video events, and even conduct live broadcasts -- all within a single app. In this article, we explain how closed invite-only groups work in Geneva and its live streaming feature, as well as what benefits online creators building their own communities can draw from them. We also address a practical question: how to issue an invoice for payments related to Geneva.

Geneva.com -- an all-in-one social platform

Geneva was created as an answer to the need for a modern space for group conversations and community organization. Its architecture resembles Slack or Discord (we have groups and topical rooms), but the app has a more friendly, community-oriented character. Users join using their phone number (instead of email), which increases security and limits anonymous trolls. Geneva deliberately abandoned public like counters and follower numbers, emphasizing authentic interactions over "chasing likes." The app is also free and does not display ads -- the creators have announced that in the future they will introduce transaction options between users (community monetization), charging a small commission on operations.

Geneva combines various forms of communication in one place. Within a single group (Home), we can create dedicated rooms of different types -- from regular text chat, through forums with posts, audio and video rooms, to broadcast rooms for live streaming. This allows the community to have everyday conversations, share announcements or materials, and also organize audio/video meetings and live events -- all within one platform. There is no need to "glue together" multiple tools (e.g., separate Facebook Groups, Zoom, WhatsApp) -- Geneva provides a complete set of features for maintaining an active group, while maintaining the ease of use typical of social apps.

Closed invite-only groups on Geneva.com

One of Geneva's key features is the ability to create private communities accessible exclusively by invitation. When creating a new group in the app, you can set its privacy to invite-only or open to everyone. A private, closed group is not visible in the Geneva community directory, and joining is possible only through a unique invitation link. After clicking such a link, the potential member enters the group's "vestibule" and must send a request to join -- only after approval by the administrator does the new person gain full access to the group's content.

In practice, this means full control over who joins your community. Additionally, Geneva offers optional "gates" (entry barriers) -- qualifying questions or other requirements that a new user must meet before gaining access. An administrator can, for example, enable required approval (each new member waits for manual acceptance) or prepare a short entry survey to check whether the candidate fits the group's profile. Such mechanisms allow creating safe, exclusive spaces for engaged members, free from spam and random people. Online course creators, newsletter authors, or paid community leaders can use this to give their audience a sense of belonging to an elite group -- which fosters loyalty and fan engagement.

Live streaming on Geneva.com

Broadcast rooms in Geneva are a solution enabling interactive live broadcasts directly within the group. Such a room works similarly to an Instagram Live or a Clubhouse audio broadcast, with the difference that it takes place in a private community and can combine both video and audio. At one time, up to nine people can simultaneously broadcast video as hosts/speakers, while other members watch the live stream as viewers. The audience size is practically unlimited -- the broadcast can be followed by even several thousand participants simultaneously. Importantly, viewers are not just passive observers: they have access to a live chat for commenting and the ability to "raise their hand" to join the conversation on the virtual stage alongside the hosts. This makes Geneva broadcasts two-way and engaging, resembling interactive webinars or panel discussions.

The live streaming feature in Geneva is especially useful for communities built around specific creators or interests. For example, an expert running an online course can regularly organize live Q&A sessions or mini-lectures for students in their closed group -- without needing external webinar platforms. Everything happens inside the app, making it easy for participants to access (they receive a notification in Geneva and join the broadcast in a familiar environment, instead of switching to another tool). For the organizer, it means time savings and experience consistency: all communication with the audience -- from event announcements, through post-broadcast discussion, to sharing materials -- takes place in one place.

Geneva as a space for creators and online communities

Thanks to the combination of closed group features and built-in live broadcasts, Geneva is gaining popularity among online creators and community leaders. Influencers, newsletter authors, podcasters, and educators are increasingly creating their own groups on Geneva to gather the most engaged members of their audience in one place. Such a private community allows for a more direct relationship with the audience -- its members feel distinguished, having access to the creator and exclusive content. Conversations take place in an intimate, controlled atmosphere, without the presence of trolls or random outsiders. Moreover, the absence of visible "likes" and follower counters in Geneva removes the pressure typical of open social media, and attention focuses on the authentic exchange of valuable information.

For the creator, the benefit is twofold. First, they have access to robust tools for managing their community -- they can moderate discussions, create different topical channels, organize events and polls -- without needing to combine multiple separate apps or services. Second, they can offer their fans or customers added value, such as special live events only for members, closed discussion forums, or materials available exclusively within the group. This model resembles running a VIP club for the most engaged audience members. Importantly, the Geneva platform itself is free for the creator; they do not have to bear the costs of maintaining the group or share revenue (at least at the current stage of the app's development). As a result, Geneva is an attractive option for entrepreneurial creators seeking a modern way to build a loyal online community.

How to issue an invoice for a Geneva.com transaction?

Although Geneva is dynamically developing its social features, it currently does not have integration with payment systems (such as Stripe) or its own paid subscription mechanism within the app. This means you cannot directly sell access to a group or event tickets within Geneva, and consequently, you cannot automate the invoicing process for those transactions through tools like striptu.com. Striptu is a service connecting Stripe with Polish accounting systems (e.g., Fakturownia.pl) for automatic invoice issuance, but to use it, the transaction must occur through Stripe outside of Geneva.

So how do you settle payments related to Geneva and issue an invoice?

The simplest solution is to process the transaction itself outside the Geneva platform and then issue an invoice based on that data. You can, for example, create a private Stripe payment link or a sales page for membership in the closed group -- the user pays for access outside the app, and the organizer receives information about the new payment. Having the transaction data (e.g., payment confirmation in Stripe), you can manually issue an invoice in your accounting program or use an integration like striptu.com, which will automatically add such a sale to the invoicing system. Alternatively, if the creator uses an online course platform (e.g., Web2Learn, Kajabi, EasyTools) with built-in payments, they should invoice the course access sale within that platform and then invite the paid user to the corresponding group in Geneva. In each of these cases, the obligation to issue an invoice lies with the creator -- they must ensure every transaction is invoiced in compliance with regulations, except that the process takes place outside the Geneva app itself.

It is worth adding that Geneva's creators plan to introduce their own transactional solutions in the future -- so-called Entry Fee for access to groups, events, or content. When these features become available, the platform will likely participate in revenue sharing (a 5% commission on creator earnings has been announced). For now, however, all payments associated with a Geneva community must be handled independently of the app. This means the need to independently handle invoice issuance -- whether through automatic tools connected to Stripe (operating outside Geneva) or traditionally, by manually entering sales into an accounting program.

In summary, Geneva.com offers unique capabilities for building engaged communities through closed groups and live broadcasts. However, it is important to remember that monetization issues -- including payment processing and invoicing -- currently require the use of external solutions outside the platform itself.