Rivet launches a dating app where users help choose matches for others

Why it matters

Rivet is testing whether other users will do more than swipe: its growth depends on people volunteering judgment for strangers, then returning often enough to make those recommendations useful.

Rivet launched nationwide in the United States on September 24th, giving people a role in matchmaking even when they are not looking for dates themselves. Founder and CEO Taru Kapoor (@tarukapoor) is betting that a dating app can turn other users' judgment into part of the product, rather than leaving every decision to the two people swiping. Learn more about Rivet.

Kapoor spent nearly a decade building Tinder and other Match Group brands across the United States, Europe and Asia, according to Rivet's launch announcement. Before that, she studied chemical engineering at IIT Delhi and earned an MBA from Harvard Business School, The Economic Times reported in 2016. Her career has put her close to the mechanics of swipe-based dating; Rivet is her attempt to change who participates in a match.

Rivet calls that system Social Matching. A member can join as a dater, a Matcher, or both. Matchers review potential pairs and recommend introductions. Rivet calculates Social Matching scores, and pairs with high scores may be introduced. Each person still decides independently whether to view the introduction, match and start a conversation. The app is free to download on iOS and Android.

The app uses software to assemble pairs, gather opinions and produce scores, while adding community judgment to the process. Rivet's proposition is that a wider group of people can notice compatibility that two profiles or a conventional matching system might miss. The company says its goal is to restore the social element it believes swipe apps stripped away. Kapoor described her conclusion in the release as having "removed the people."

The community is part of the acquisition strategy

Rivet's model asks users to supply attention on behalf of other users. Its give-to-get premise is that people who help evaluate matches may receive similar help from the community. That gives Rivet a way to recruit people who are not currently dating, potentially making the service feel active beyond the pool of singles seeking dates. It also creates a practical test: whether members will keep judging pairs when the immediate payoff is helping someone else.

Rivet points to a survey it commissioned as evidence that the idea could attract participants. Censuswide surveyed 2,013 U.S. adults from September 15th to 18th. Among Gen Z and Millennial respondents, 68% said they would be interested in anonymously helping a person they did not know find a potential romantic match, provided that person made the final decision. Rivet reported figures of 78% for Gen Z and 60% for Millennials. The most frequently cited motivations were helping someone find love, at 36%, and helping someone avoid a bad match, at 27%.

Those responses measure stated interest under the survey's conditions. They do not show how many people will sign up, how often they will use the app, or whether community recommendations lead to satisfying relationships. For Rivet, the harder product work is likely to be converting willingness into repeat participation while keeping judgments useful and introductions welcome.

A seed round for a different dating loop

Rivet says it has raised $10.5 million in seed funding, backed by Peak XV Partners, Shine Capital and Blume Ventures. Former Tinder and OkCupid CEO Elie Seidman is an early investor and advised Kapoor during Rivet's development, according to the announcement. Seidman described the product as a new approach to discovery built around human judgment and community.

The funding supports a product that needs participation from both sides of its loop: daters willing to be evaluated and Matchers willing to spend time evaluating them. Rivet's launch release does not provide user, revenue, retention or match-outcome figures, so the round establishes investor backing rather than demonstrated results. The company is a product of MeantToBe, Inc., which lists a New York address on its download page.

Kapoor knows the scale advantage that swipe products brought to dating: they made it possible to encounter people outside an existing social circle. Rivet keeps the expanded pool and adds a community layer in front of introductions. Whether that layer improves the experience depends on what happens after the novelty of matchmaking for other people fades. The app gives Kapoor a concrete way to test her thesis: ask users to help make introductions, then let the people involved decide for themselves.