Startup Spotlight: Revibe
All Things Venture #028
Hey Everyone! Dez here from All Things Venture. In 2019, some Stanford researchers released a study that showed a whopping 39% of of heterosexual couples reported meeting their partner online, compared to 22 percent in 2009. Meeting your partner on apps like Tinder, Bumble, Hinge, and Grindr had replaced the decades old tradition of meeting your partner through family, through friends, in the church, and in the neighborhood. It’s just another milestone in the all consuming effects of technology, and in my opinion shows not only how far we’ve come since the internet started to become more commonplace in the ‘90s, but also how far we have to go. Although the incidence of internet dating is on the rise, that doesn’t mean internet dating is impervious to change. I recently had the opportunity to meet and chat with Haley Fradkin, the COO and co-founder Revibe, a dating app that is looking to shake up the industry. While I am happily out of the dating pool, Revibe’s introduction of search into a dating app is, in my mind, a game-changer. Haley is an absolute go-getter, and I am so excited to follow her and Revibe’s journey. With that context in mind, let’s dive right in.
What is Revibe?
Revibe is a dating app that enables its users to find exactly who they are looking for with an advanced search feature. Today, Revibe users can search for dating prospects by name, location, school, greek life or interests. Unlike most dating apps that dictate who a user sees and who they can match with, Revibe gives control back to its users by allowing them to find a specific match they desire. People often know exactly who they are looking for on dating apps and Revibe has created a new platform that makes it easy for users to anonymously swipe who they seek to date.
What led you to build Revibe?
I have always been interested in deep technology, building businesses, trading stocks, and building investment portfolios. At Tulane University, I was lucky enough to meet my Co-Founder Austin Doukas who came from a similar background. I started my career as a Venture Capitalist and deployed $20M across 15 early stage deep technology and frontier healthcare companies with diverse founding teams. I decided to leave my venture job to Cofound Revibe with Austin, and it was the best decision I could have made at the time.
Who do you believe Revibe is best positioned for?
Revibe is positioned to take over the dating app industry by pioneering search. We are focused primarily on the Millennial and Gen Z population and our go to market approach will tackle the entire dating app experience with match, chat, and date.
How do you think Revibe can reinvent internet dating?
Revibe has a vision of the future to put a stop to endless swiping and help people find their matches better, cheaper and faster with the help of search. I also think that Revibe can reinvent internet dating when we implement gaming features.
A central component of Revibe is the search feature, where did you all draw inspiration for that feature? What impact do you think it will have?
The true impact Revibe can have is ultimately making people happy at home and I am so proud to be the founder of a company that has such a noble mission.
What are some of the challenges that you face at the current stage for Revibe?
Mastering network effects as an early stage company is probably our biggest challenge coupled with fundraising as a startup.
What defines success for Revibe over the next few months?
In the next few months, Revibe will be taking over Tulane University, 5 other schools, and fundraising our Pre-Seed round.
What advice do you have for any aspiring entrepreneur?
My best advice for entrepreneurs is how to best accept advice from other founders and funders. You will get a lot of different advice from a lot of different people but the best entrepreneurs learn how to filter through the noise. Learn how to apply what is most appropriate and specific to your venture and only take that advice. Always stay busy and remember, change is the only constant so prepare for it and continue to adapt.
What is your wildly ambitious vision for Revibe?
My wildly ambitious goal for Revibe is to garner 100 million users in the next 5 years. We are well on our way.
That’s it for this week everyone. I hope you all enjoyed the article!
Let us know what you think in the comments, or shoot me a note directly at dez@firstmarkcap.com. Cheers everyone!