Online dating... but offline?
How this European startup is breaking all the rules to help you find love.
2018 was defined by media stories showing how much time we spend down our phones, leading to big tech releasing updates that show you how and where you’re wasting your life, with dating apps being some of the worst offenders. Most phones now even let you put time limits on your apps so you’re not sitting on tinder for 2 hours and forgetting to eat.
"It’s entire focus is to get you off the app, off your phone, and meeting people in real life as fast as possible"
This is why European dating app The Inner Circle’s approach is disrupting the game, and causing a stir in the process. It’s entire focus is to get you off the app, off your phone, and meeting people in real life as fast as possible. It’s designed from the ground up to get you finding a match as physically fast as possible, with no swiping or gamification tricks that hook you to your phone for hours on end.
"everyone only sees people that they would have swiped right on anyway"
It achieves this through three steps. First off, as soon as you open the app you’re presented with a wall of singles that are already a quality match. Each user is verified by a real person before being allowed on to the platform, and members are shown to each user based on their own profile, so everyone only sees people that they would have swiped right on anyway saving them the time wasted on the actual swiping.
Second, every other feature on The Inner Circle is about meeting in real life. It has a TripAdvisor/lonely planet style section called “Spots” which rates date venues in your city based on the success of other users. Another feature is “Trips” which lets you log your holidays or business trips in advance, so you can meet up with locals in your downtime or flirt with like minded jet setters from your own city.
“they combine all the benefits and romance of meeting someone in real life with the ease and convenience of apps.”
Thirdly, and most successfully, it hosts its own dating singles events. And these aren’t the cringe-worthy speed dating nights you’ve heard about.
Existing users of the app rate these above almost any other feature, as they combine all the benefits and romance of meeting someone in real life with the ease and convenience of apps. They’re held regularly in cities across the world at unexpected and exclusive venues, often with unique entertainment for the ideal ice-breakers, you buy tickets from within the app itself and can even see who’s going. In some cities, users have even started organising their own pre-events so the night last longer and they can meet more people.
This is why The Inner Circle is proving so disruptive. It’s the dating app where you can find a match in minutes, or you can gain access to events in seconds for if you don’t like online dating and don’t have the time to waste waiting for someone to show up in real life.