Known, a new voice-based AI dating app that launched in San Francisco in February, was founded by two 22-year-old Stanford dropouts who say it results in more dates than traditional apps.
Co-founders and former Stanford students, Celeste Amadon and Asher Allen, who raised $10 million in funding for the app, say that Known replaces profiles, swiping, and in-app messaging with voice-based AI matchmaking, as KTVU reports. Users instead go through an onboarding interview where they talk through their background, personality, values, and what they’re looking for in a partner, with the app using those conversations to determine compatibility.
The company says its matching model analyzes conversational details and personal preferences to pair users with a single potential match at a time, while also handling introductions and helping arrange dates. According to Fast Company, the app is designed around getting people to meet in person, rather than maximizing engagement and retention like subscription-driven dating apps.
Known also claims that about half of its matches result in users agreeing to a real-life date, which Amadon contrasted with the far lower meet-up rates associated with conventional dating apps.
The app’s early testing phase included about 7,000 participants in a beta round last year, with the founders reportedly saying they’ve already heard from some users who met through the platform and are still dating.
After each date, Known follows up with users for feedback, which Amadon says helps refine future matches by improving the system’s understanding of compatibility over time, per KTVU. Photos are withheld until later in the matching process, once a connection has already been established.
If both users agree to meet, Known coordinates logistics such as time and location, aiming to reduce the back-and-forth and drop-off that’s common on other apps. The platform is free to join, but users pay a $15 fee when they commit to a match, a charge the company says is meant to discourage no-shows.
Amadon tells KTVU the app currently has thousands of users in San Francisco following its launch in February.
Additionally, Fast Company reports that dating apps across the industry are incorporating AI features, including Tinder, Hinge, and Facebook Dating.
Back in 2023, SFist reported on a dating app that aimed to get people meeting offline as soon as possible, which went defunct less than a year later.
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