Dating App Thursday Gets $3.5 Investment
Contributed by: kellyseal on Wednesday, July 14 2021 @ 08:29 am
Last modified on Wednesday, July 14 2021 @ 08:34 am
Dating app Thursday[*1] has secured $3.5 million in seed money investment after launching in New York and London in May, according to Tech Crunch.
The dating app’s name comes from the fact that it’s only live once a week – on Thursdays, so users of the app will have to be sure to log on then if they don’t want to wait another week to connect with potential matches. Thursday goes live at 1:00am and closes at midnight each week, when all conversations and matches vanish. So, if you really want to continue with a match you made on the app, you have to commit and make plans quickly.
The idea seems to be taking off, at least for now. A month and a half after its launch, the company said in a statement that it had 52,000 downloads, 110,000 likes were sent, and also reported 7,500 matches in a single day. The company also received more seed money than it had planned to raise.
The app imposes more restrictions than a typical dating app to create a sense of urgency among its users, so that they are incentivized to connect with matches sooner rather than later. Users can only upload five photos and share brief information about themselves. There is a social media feature similar to Instagram Stories according to Tech Crunch[*2] , which allows users to get a little creative, but this content disappears after twenty-four hours, too.
Users are limited to matching by location (proximity to other matches) and also to only ten matches each week. This avoids the problem of users swiping right on everyone to boost their chances for a match – and instead encourages members to really consider who they want to meet.
While it does seem more regimented than typical dating apps, because that time is so limited, there won’t be the typical FOMO and constant checking and swiping associated with other dating apps, which operate 24/7.
The company plans to use the additional funding to grow its business, putting resources into marketing and development, though the details are vague.
“This is the first version of Thursday (the app was previously called Honeypot) and it’s definitely not perfect so in the short term we are going to use this time to tighten up the app, introduce some new features and continue to develop our matching algorithm to make it the most efficient and intuitive matching system on the market,” said co-founder Matt McNeill Love in a statement. “We’re also going to be introducing a not been done before, revolutionary feature, which will really assist with matches resulting in dates.”
The app also plans to expand in other cities, but for now, it’s still only available in London and New York.
The seed is double their initial target, with financing coming from Ascension Ventures, Best Nights VC (previously M-Venture) the investment arm of Jägermeister, Connect Ventures, plus early backers of CityMapper, TypeForm and FIIT (processed via SeedLegals).
Notable angels backing the dating platform include Tom Blomfield, founder of Monzo; Matt Robinson, founder of GoCardless and Nested; Ian Hogarth, founder of Songkick; Eldar Tuvey, founder of Wandera and Henry de Zoute, founder of LookAfterMyBills.