This Dating App Combines The Best Of Tinder And OKCupid
Here's the idea: Use Hinge and you'll be connected with other users who are friends with your Facebook friends, good way to automatically eliminate weirdos. Every day you'll get a different batch of people to look at and either match with or reject.
Like Tinder, if you like someone-in this case, if you give them a star instead of an X after looking at their profile-and they like you back, you'll get connected.
Justin McLeod, co-founder of the app, told Business Insider that the most important part of the redesign is that Hinge has drastically improved the matching algorithm that it uses to suggest potential love interests. In the crowded dating app space, Hinge combines the best of OKCupid (the recommendation based on match percentages) with the simplicity of Tinder (because the app pulls info from your Facebook you don't need to laboriously build a profile like you would on OKCupid).
"Our new data scientist used to work for the CIA, catching bad guys," McLeod says, "And now he's working on this new algorithm. It's a new world."
Each time you mutually match with another user, Hinge also sends a message to introduce you that highlights things you have in common. It even makes date suggestions based on your interest.
In November, Hinge raised $4 million from the likes of Red Swan and 500 Startups. So far, it has launched in Boston, DC, Philadelphia, and New York City, with San Francisco or Chicago up next. Although only 100,000 people have signed up for the service so far, users have been very engaged, with the average person logging in 40 times per month.
"We're the app you use to find someone you actually like. Easily," McLeod says.