SwoonMe emerged from Tanvi Gupta’s personal experiences with dating

Rajumari Sharma Tankha

Do you believe in the old world kind of romance that involved lots of chatting while getting to know a person? Do you find the various dating apps where you can just text each other or may be see a picture, unsatisfying? Well, worry not. There is another kind of dating app in the market that promises to come up to your expectations. SwoonMe (with your voice that is). It is a metaverse dating app (available on google play and iOs play store) focused on connecting people through voice recordings and AI avatars.
The brainchild of Tanvi Gupta, SwoonMe gives its users the freedom of expression and letting them make the first impression through voice and conversation, before using other mediums such as photos and videos. “I think this would resolve the problem of people judging each other on the basis of looks, financial status, job profile, etc., and connect with each other on shared ideologies,” says Gupta adding that It’s not simply a dating app, but a social network that makes it easy for people to build meaningful connections. “Dating is our initial killer use case to get users since it is a key need and ripe for disruption,” she says.

Getting an idea
The idea for a Metaverse and voice first dating app came from Tanvi’s dating experiences. “Time and time again, I experienced judgment and a feeling of insecurity while I was looking for someone special online. I wanted to provide singles with a unique platform on which no one judged or felt judged based on their physical appearance. From my own personal experience, I knew that the existing mainstream dating platforms weren’t solving my key need for a safe space to find meaningful connections,” she avers.

Pandemic made it happen
When the pandemic hit, Tanvi made the decision to leave her full-time job at Facebook, and venture out on her own to make her dream a reality. She spent some time gaining perspective on exactly what it was that she wanted to build. Next, she got the website up and running and encouraged people to subscribe to its newsletters. She also ran surveys to gain a deeper understanding of what people needed, and how to fulfill those needs as also provide audience with a unique dating experience.
“These surveys were significantly beneficial since we got a large number of responses and sign-ups. These people went on to become our beta users. They provided us with insightful feedback, such as the fact that 7 out of 10 straight women and 6 out of 10 straight men felt that dating apps were too focused on one’s physical appearance,” says Tanvi.
Soon after, in 2021, Tanvi along with her brother and co-founder, Rishabh Gupta, started SwoonMe as an authentic and intimate avatar and audio-first dating experience.
With time, the app gained momentum, and with that came the rise in popularity for immersive experiences. “So, we then decided to take SwoonMe to a more Metaverse-focused platform, allowing Gen-Z singles to connect, feel, and experience meaningful connections through a metaverse social network,” she informs.

Target users
The dating app is primarily targeted at Gen-Z and Millenials, since they are the ones who are most likely to use dating apps, as well as the ones who look for immersive dating experiences such as ours. These are the potential users who have already shown adoption for voice-based apps such as Clubhouse, and have shown keen interest in the metaverse. “To make their experience unique and free of judgement and pressure, we are prioritizing connection over labels and dating. We want people to use SwoonMe as a social platform where they can connect with one another first, and then see where it goes,” says Tanvi.

Prominent features
The two prominent current features of SwoonMe are 1). The use of avatars instead of photos to allow people to build their profiles without feeling judged by their physical experience, and 2) Focus on voice interactions. Further, its trending tab allows users to find profiles that are trending and additionally encourage users to pay attention to their profiles.

What future looks like
Safety is the key. “We will be adding more features focused on providing users with a safe, judgement-free, hassle-free, pressure-free platform that is not just great to find someone special, but also to give them a platform where they can spend time, make friends, get to know people, play (non-mind) games with each other,” says Tanvi.
The app is going to step away from the idea of liking or rejecting people, and rather encourage users to connect with another not just through their profile but through voice-based features, avatar interactions, games, and more, and then decide whether they want to connect with someone or not.
“We’re rapidly growing our user base in San Francisco, NYC, LA, and India and getting ready to launch in the UK and European markets,” she adds.