Online Personals Watch: News on the Online Dating Industry and Business

The Round, an Austin-based App, Takes Speed Dating Virtual

STATESMAN - Oct 21 - Austin entrepreneur Zachary Casler estimates that dating app users spend ~10 hours a week swiping away looking for matches. But when it comes to his company's app, The Round, Casler is hoping users will spend just a few minutes a day. His app is designed to get users straight to a date. Casler, who serves as CEO, co-founded the company with Brian Atwood, who is CTO. The company has a team of 10 employees. Casler previously led Dindr, a food-focused dating app that will set up dinner and a date with a similar technology concept. However, Tinder sent the app a cease-and-desist letter because of the name similarity in 2018. Casler pivoted, founding The Round in July 2018. The app mirrors speed dating. At 2PM each day, users can set their preferences for where in Austin and what time they would like to go on a date, and look through a list of 5-15 profiles of people who chose the same preference. When a match is made, the app suggests date options. The Round raised $550K to date prior to its launch. It also is beginning another funding round, with the goal of raising $2M - $3M.

by Kara Carlson
See full article at Statesman

See the top news on The Round

This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.com

The Round Dating App Launching in Austin

FOX7AUSTIN - Aug 25 - The Austin-based dating app The Round is trying to reimagine online dating. The app hosts 5-minute real-time matchmaking events so users spend less time messaging and more time on dates.

See full article at Fox7Austin

See the top news on The Round (formerly Dindr)

How App For Food Lovers Accidentally Turned Into A Speed Dating App

BUSINESS INSIDER - Feb 14 - Dindr was an app that was supposed to make it easier to meet friends at restaurants for dinner. But when the cofounder discovered that people were secretly using it for meeting love interests and making dates, he retooled it as a sort of speed dating app. Users swipe through potential matches, which is based in part on their foods preferences. Then, twice a day at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m., everyone logs on for a six-minute round of chatting. Users get to chat with one match at a time with a short window to make plans or move on. If no plans are made, they can you meet another person. Dindr now has about 3,500 users worldwide including 1,400 people who downloaded the app in the month since it was relaunched as a dating app. About 100 people are joining every day.

by Julie Bort
See full article at Business Insider

See all posts on Dindr

Summarized by the IDEA team

Austin Dating App Dindr Will Set Up Dinner And Choose A Restaurant

EATER AUSTIN - Jan 10 - Dindr dating app encourages people to get off their phones and meet in person that night. The app is available for download right now and is scheduled to go live in Austin on Friday, Jan 26. Dindr co-founder and CEO Zachary Casler wanted to create an app to make dating manageable, actionable, and more respectful. "We want our community to spend less time on the screen, and more time face-to-face," Casler said. Users get access to matches in ten-minute rounds that occur three times a day at noon, 3 p.m., and 7 p.m. During the rounds, users swipe on different profiles, but only have access to one match at a time, which will expire if plans are not made for that day. Dindr provides conversation topics and three restaurant options halfway between the users' locations.

by Erin Russell
See full article at Eater Austin

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team