Meet Friends of Friends on Dating App Hinge

Guest Author Mar 6, 2013 Tweet

Ever catch yourself looking at a friend’s friends on Facebook or social media? Of course you have! We’ve all done it, but meeting someone through a friend means  – gasp – you actually have to ask for an introduction. Or worse: a friend attempts to sell you on an intro! Well now there’s Hinge, a new social dating app.

Hinge gives you five Facebook friends of friends to rate every day. You then show up in their secret admirer list. If they rate you high enough, Hinge sends both humans a note and a match is born!

Though no Hinge babies have been born yet, the startup is onto something, as most young professional singles are either tired or scared of traditional dating sites. Hinge is part of a new crop of social dating startups catering to a young crowd looking to meet a significant other the traditional way while using the power of a social network – friends of friends. In other words, today’s dating users want cake and they want to eat it, too.

Others tackling the niche include Coffee Meets Bagel, a model quite like Hinge, and Seattle-based LikeBright, a TechStars graduate focusing on web.

According to startup listing service AngelList, Hinge has received $625,000 in funding as of last September, from private investors and Silicon Valley seed fund and accelerator 500 Startups. Hinge is currently only available for iPhone with plans to expand to Android soon.

Hinge was a showcased startup at our Tech Cocktail DC mixer. 

Guest author Patrick Skelley has been involved in the DC and Seattle startup communities for over two years…an eternity in tech startups! He’s learned firsthand the difficulty in taking a company/concept from vision to reality and is happy to spread the wealth (knowledge, not money)! Currently orchestrating a dream move from Seattle to New York, he intends on returning to finance/consulting while advising eager startups whenever possible. Follow him on Twitter @Skelley84.