Dating app for gay women closes £100k investment for UK launch
Dattch, the dating app aimed specifically at lesbian and bisexual women, has closed a £100,000 investment for its launch in the UK.
The app had previously seen a €40,000 (£33,500) investment by Wayra, a startup accelerator, as part of its incubator program, where Dattch will remain until January.
Founder and CEO Robyn Exton spoke of the problems with other dating apps for women, saying: ”Every single dating product that’s been produced for gay women is horrific,
”The biggest problem [with rivals’ products] is they don’t have any consideration of how these women are different.”
Exton went on to say that many apps were just reskins of gay male platforms, and that they resulted in women being asked questions such as “how much body hair do you have”, because they were just reusing old templates.
Other users complained that men were able to gain access to other sites, whereas Dattch checks individuals before they join to ensure that only women can access the app’s features.
“Nobody was thinking about a female user, and actually how do women behave? What kind of triggers are they looking for?” Exton continued.
Users in the UK can already download Dattch, and acquisition efforts are on London, Brighton, Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow.
Following its UK launch, the US will be next, with geofenced city-by-city rollout. Plans are also in place for Australia, and after that, Exton believes there is the potential to enter China. She argues that because there is no LGBT infrastructure, in terms of bars, “apps become really very relevant”.
Discussing the new investment, Exton said the app had faced problems with potential investors. She said: ”It’s not been the simplest to raise for a lesbian app… Some people have been quite uncomfortable with what we do.
“No one has done this before, no one has created an app for this market so I think it’s a new market so possibly there’s a bit more caution around it,” she continued.
