Sonder’s founders couldn’t resist coming across one more dating app profile where someone boldly declared that their most controversial opinion was that they liked pineapple on pizza.
“We didn’t realize that people were getting frustrated through user calls or interviews or whatever,” co-founder Mehedi Hassan told TechCrunch. “We learned from our own experience: we think, ‘This is impossible.’”
This observation that dating apps are slot machines for misery is as unoriginal as bragging on Hinge that you were Time magazine’s 2006 Person of the Year (we all were!). So Hassan and three friends in their mid-20s set out to create a not-so-bad app.
Together with Sonder, the four London-based founders – Mehedi Hassan, Helen Sun, Lenard Pratt and Hannah Kin – wanted to create an app that was more like Pinterest or MySpace than a job application. (They cite MySpace as an inspiration, even though they were too young to reach its peak.)
“The goal is to use the format of existing dating apps to lower the barrier to entry and improve accessibility, making it easier for introverts to meet large groups of people,” co-founder Helen Sun told TechCrunch. “The intention was really good in the beginning, but the way the app has evolved, it seems like it’s become too monotonous, and people are suffering from burnout because of the loss of authenticity.”
Sonder profiles are completely unstructured, encouraging users to create something that looks like a mood board or digital collage. People can connect through the app, but they can also attend quirky in-person events hosted by Sonder, such as “speed drawing” events, “presentation nights” or “performance men’s contests” (we promise).
Sonder can be used for both platonic and romantic connections, making in-person events feel less threatening. There is no need to enter a space where everyone is loitering.
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“We have repeat events because it’s nice to have regular people coming back,” Sun said. “It’s in a way emulating a run club where you’re given repeated opportunities to meet people, but there’s no pressure to make it work the first time you meet someone.”
Running clubs have become a phenomenon where people meet in person. The incentive for “productivity maximizers” is that even if they don’t make new connections, they at least get some exercise. But not everyone likes to run, and not everyone finds having visible sweat stains the most tempting feeling.
“I hate running.” Hassan interjected. “Not everyone is interested in a running club. Helen is interested in a book club, but you couldn’t pay me to go to a book club.”
Sonder is not the first startup to realize that people want to meet in person. Tinder, the most ‘dating app’ of all dating apps, is also offering a hands-on experience. But consumers want to try new things. When it comes to dating apps, early-stage startups can actually benefit from a lack of brand awareness. Going to an IRL Tinder event sounds just as appealing as going to the DMV, but trying something new feels a little more appealing.
“I think what we’re trying to bring back is the magic of bringing people together and meeting someone for the first time,” Sun said. “It needs to be special and not feel like you’re skimming through job applications on LinkedIn.”
Traditional dating apps are also introducing flashy new features, like Bumble’s AI-powered dating assistant or Tinder’s tool to analyze photos in your camera roll to get to know you better.
Sonder is not pessimistic about AI. Hassan’s day job is product engineering at Granola, a London-based AI note-taking app that recently raised $125 million at a $1.5 billion valuation. But he knows Sonder’s roughly 6,500 users in London, acquired without paid marketing, tend to be less enthusiastic about the overly invasive use of AI in their dating lives.
But Sonder still uses AI. It’s less flashy than mainstream apps. The app runs LLM to analyze screenshots of the user’s profile, figure out who the user might want to meet, and suggest matches to the user. However, Hassan said he refuses to introduce AI profile creation tools.
“I think you lose the human touch at that point,” he said. “So even if we’re missing out on hundreds of users and there’s a lot of friction in setting up a profile, we want to make sure that a real person is putting in the effort to create that profile. Because that also serves as an indicator of how much effort is actually being put into connecting.”
Sonder has not yet raised funding and the founders are working on the app part-time alongside their day jobs. But Hassan hopes Sonder can stay in London so he can secure funding and turn it into a full-time gig.
“Honestly, our lives are so hard. We work nine to five and at the end of the day we go to host these events,” he said. “But when I actually watched the video the next day, it was really nice to see people laughing and having honest conversations.”
