Can AI improve the dating app market? A new dating app called Sitch aims to leverage human expertise in matchmaking to enhance AI models.
Dating app banks today with speeds of onboarding and millions of options. Users will create profiles within seconds by uploading photos and answering simple questions. The app relies on basic information and feedback from a user's swipe to find potential matches.
Sitch aims to adopt a more thoughtful approach in the onboarding process, using a large-scale language model (LLMS) to bring human matchmaker expertise to your dating app experience, helping you find potential matches without swipes.
The startup was co-founded by Nandini Muraji. Nandini Muraji's dating market tips come from her grandmother, who is also a matchmaker. She said that while companies that like match and bumble dominate the space, people are still unhappy and don't get the match they want.
“Matchmaking is a data issue. I was good at matchmaking because there was more information about two people than dating apps. The data in these apps is not enough to show whether two people will have long-term compatibility,” says Mullaji.
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Muraji, a graduate of Stanford Business School, has worked on a variety of encounters and education-related projects, including being involved in the launch of Bumble in India. Co-founder Chad Depue is CTO of anonymous social network Whisper and worked at Snap.
Muraji noted that until recently, when LLM became more commonly available, it was difficult to expand the human experience of matchmaking. Depue added that the goal of the startup is to use LLMS to extract data from profiles and photos and display personalized matches.
Essentially, Sitch built an AI version of Mullaji. This helps users get mounted by asking for details using almost 50 questions that can be answered in text or audio.
After your Dater profile is set up, AI Matchmaker will display the suggested matches. If both users agree to match each other, the bot will add them to a group chat with AI. At any time, even after the actual date, users can provide match feedback to improve AI personalization.
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“We are always surprised and excited by how trustworthy users can trust in what they share when they are onboarding and when they provide feedback later,” Depue says. “They also know that this data is not publicly available, so I think they're also sharing it more openly.”
The startup initially trained the AI model with over 75 parameters for matchmaking provided by Mullaji, and utilized its matchmaking skills to understand why the two matched. The company then used user feedback to expand the model.
To generate a match, Sitch determines compatibility and contrasting characteristics between the two profiles.
The company charges users per setup (match) and sells the setup in packs of 3 ($89.99), 5 ($124.99), and 8 ($159.99);
Sitch is backed by $5 million in seed funding from the M13 and A16Z Speedrun, and the startup has so far earned $7 million in total funding. M13 partner Anna Barber said the venture company is excited by the startup's vision of building dating apps using AI.
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“The way founders build product maps is how someone works with real matchmakers. You call matchmakers before and after the date and always provide feedback. We felt the idea of expanding the personalized kind of service to a larger audience that can't afford matchmakers.”
“Many dating apps work like mobile games, where they work just like mobile games that try to get more involved in the user experience, as they lead to more sales,” she added. “With Sitch, teams don't have to focus on these growth hacks because users pay upfront.”
Sitch currently serves New York, but plans to open stores in more cities this year. The company said it manually checks all profiles to maintain quality and safety.
Big companies like Tinder, Bumble and Grindr are also injecting AI into different parts of their app experience, so startups may cut off that work.
Sitch is lending its bank to the fact that people may be trying to move away from swipe-based apps as Tinder and Bumble registered a slowdown last year. Additionally, the company believes it stands out as users provide more data to the app and intends to date serious.
This app is currently available on Apple's App Store.