Hinge founder raises $18M to launch AI dating app Overtone
▼ Summary
– Hinge founder Justin McLeod raised $18 million for his new company, Overtone, with funding from Match Group, FirstMark Capital, and Pace Capital.
– Overtone is described as a voice- and audio-forward service, enabled by AI, that provides highly curated introductions, and McLeod says it is not a dating app.
– McLeod criticizes traditional dating apps for reducing people to stats and photos, and notes that 78% of users in a 2024 Forbes Health survey felt burnt out.
– The company uses AI to deeply learn about users through their voice and story, making only introductions grounded in relationship science, rather than outsourcing conversations.
– Overtone will launch later this year in select locations, and relationship expert Esther Perel has joined its board alongside Match CEO Spencer Rascoff.
Justin McLeod, the founder of Hinge, has secured $18 million in funding for his latest venture, a new AI-driven dating company called Overtone. Just last year, McLeod stepped away from his CEO role at Hinge, and now his former parent company, Match Group,which also operates Tinder and OkCupid,is helping bankroll the new project alongside FirstMark Capital and Pace Capital.
Details about Overtone remain sparse, but the company describes itself as “a voice- and audio-forward service, enabled by AI, that provides highly curated introductions.” McLeod was quick to clarify that Overtone is not another typical dating app. In a blog post, he explained: “By that I mean it’s not a social platform with profiles that reduce people to stats, quotes and photos. There are no opaque, algorithmic feeds trained on split-second impulses. And there’s no juggling likes, matches and chats across many people at once.”
It might seem contradictory for the architect of Hinge to criticize algorithmic feeds and swiping culture. Yet the broader dating app industry is shifting as user dissatisfaction becomes impossible to ignore. A 2024 Forbes Health survey of 1,000 respondents found that 78% of dating app users felt burnt out, spending an average of 51 minutes daily on apps without forming meaningful connections.
Many platforms are now turning to AI to enhance matchmaking, offering features like AI-generated conversation starters or profile-building assistance. But a growing number of users feel uneasy about outsourcing too much of this intimate process to machines. McLeod appears to be focusing AI on narrowing down compatibility rather than automating actual human interaction. He wrote: “We get to know each person deeply, learning about them in their own voice, hearing their own unique story. And we make only the introductions that are worth making, grounded in relationship science and thoughtful reflection. We transparently explain why we believe someone is a great match.”
This curated approach mirrors what newer apps like Ditto and Date Drop are attempting: using AI to pair users instead of throwing everyone into an endless pool of potential matches, which often leads to ghosting and decision fatigue.
Overtone is set to launch later this year, but only in select locations. Alongside the funding announcement, the company revealed that renowned relationship expert Esther Perel has joined the board, as have Match CEO Spencer Rascoff and leadership advisor Diana Chapman.
(Source: TechCrunch)