Once is a freemium dating app that gives users a single curated match per day, chosen by manual matchmakers instead of algorithmic matching. Launched in 2015 by Jean Meyer, Leo Gruenstein, Guillaume Sempé and Guilhem Duché, the company is based in Feusisberg, Switzerland and London, UK. The app is used by about 1 million people across France, the UK and Brazil. Once operates a freemium model and emphasizes human curation in its matching process. The company intends to use new funding to expand the team and further develop the app. Once is a New York–based matchmaking app that sends each user a single curated match at noon and limits visibility of other profiles for 24 hours. Matches are selected by human matchmakers who place users in "buckets" based on appearance, hobbies, sexual orientation and other factors, with a heavy emphasis on Facebook photos. The app notifies both users simultaneously when they are viewing each other’s profile and connects them only if both express interest. Once is available in 32 countries, supports seven languages, and runs on Android, iOS and Apple Watch OS. The company has faced early-user complaints about delays in receiving matches; its CEO says match frequency will improve as the user base grows. Funds from the recent round will be used to fuel growth and build “very edgy and very different” features, plus a web alpha and an updated Apple Watch OS release planned later in the year.

Total raised

$9M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Jun 2016