Dating app Once receives $5.6 million in funding for its revolutionary concepts in the online dating market.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goiHi0vN0GQ
While most dating apps encourage quick hook-ups without any real substance, Once offers its users the unique chance to find true love and meaningful relationships, differentiating it from the pool of apps currently exhausting the market.
For this reason, the app’s popularity has soared since its launch in February of last year, and its users appreciate the “let’s take it slow” dating approach. This has attracted investors like France’s Partech VC firm who believed in Once’s innovation so much that they invested twice.
“This is a great achievement in the first year of launching our slow dating concept,” said Jean Meyer, CEO and Founder at Once,” adding, “we are delighted that Partech Ventures believe in Once and recognize the potential our app has globally to continue reforming the dating scene around the world. This is our second round of seed funding with Partech and adds to the four million euros we have already raised previously from Partech and private investors.”
The way the app works is you are sent a profile of your potential significant other that is only available for 24 hours. You have one day to see if your passions align based on your interests, which are first calculated by an algorithm that places your matches in a small pool of potential candidates, and from that pool an actual human “matchmaker” picks your match for the day based on good-ol’-fashioned gut instinct.
One of the more inspirational applications behind the app’s social technology is the “match based on heartbeat.” If you have a wearable gadget like a FitBit or a pulse belt, Once’s system compares your heartbeat after viewing your potential sweetheart’s profile with your regular heart rate and tells you if the suggested partner makes you excited. Based on that, the matchmakers at Once then introduce you to similar people to the ones you liked.
The technological innovations, along with the industry-smashing concepts are what keep investors coming back for more.
Romain Lavault, General Manager at Partech Ventures commented on the latest investment.
“Dating is a really exciting space for us as it attracts massive audiences from all around the world. Once has a unique approach to serious dating which creates a much more lifelike experience for users, more human and much less Tinder-esque! We look forward to supporting Jean Meyer and his team in on-boarding many more millions of users for Once globally.”
