Hinge founder announces $18 million AI dating app with creepily dystopian twist
It sometimes feels amazing that we can even get a date in 2026, let alone hold down an actual relationship.
Gone are the traditional days of 'courting' where you'd wait for your date outside the local cinema and hope they turned up on time, because we were in an era before mobile phones.
It's rare that we bump into someone on the dancefloor or get one of those Hollywood meet-cutes, mainly because everyone has their faces glued to their phones.
When we're not swiping through TikTok, we're doing it on dating apps. As the likes of Tinder, Hinge, Bumble, and Grindr (depending on your preferences) reign supreme, a slew of rival dating apps continue to bubble to the surface while claiming to offer something different.
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The problem is, many of these alternative dating apps promise something revolutionary but burn out before getting popular enough for anyone to really notice.
Now, Hinge co-founder Justin McLeod has abandoned ship and announced a $18 million fundraising for his new dating company called Overtone.
Hinge owner Match Group (which also owns Tinder) is helping fund Overtone with help from FirstMark Capital and Pace Capital, but you might be asking what the USP is this time around.
With complaints that Overtone is bringing us closer to Black Mirror becoming a reality, TechCrunch reports that it does away with old-school dating profiles.
In a new blog post from McLeod, he says that Overtone isn't a dating app, clarifying: "By that I mean it’s not a social platform with profiles that reduce people to stats, quotes and photos. There are no opaque, algorithmic feeds trained on split-second impulses. And there’s no juggling likes, matches and chats across many people at once."
Complaining that the intimacy of being introduced through friends is gone, our networks are simply getting too big, and there’s arguably too much choice.
McLeod refers to users feeling burnt out by the dating pool, which is backed up by TechCrunch reminding us that a Forbes Health report from 2024 decreed that 78% of dating app users felt this way. 1,000 participants admitted that they spend an average of 51 minutes every day on dating apps, although this didn't lead to fulfilling connections.
We've got to applaud Overtone for trying something different, and the idea that you'll only be matched with someone when it's believed there's a genuine connection is a noble one.
Still, leaving your love life in the hands of an AI model seems more than a little dystopian.
In Black Mirror's "Hang the DJ", couples were paired for a specific amount of time until they found their perfect match, although the two main characters eventually realize they're simulated consciousnesses being run through a real-life compatibility test.
Hyping Overtone's unique premise, McLeod explained: "We get to know each person deeply, learning about them in their own voice, hearing their own unique story. And we make only the introductions that are worth making, grounded in relationship science and thoughtful reflection. We transparently explain why we believe someone is a great match."
We don't want to up the paranoia that we're all living in a simulation, but it sure gets you thinking.
Modern dating apps are already leaning into AI in terms of suggestions for conversation starters and how to write the 'perfect' bio, but this is a much bigger leap.
Those who want to try Overtone for themselves can join the waitlist, with it supposedly rolling out in select locations later in 2026.
As for whether this really is the next big Hinge rival, McLeod concluded: "Choice is too important to be left to chance, and too personal to be left to a swipe. We’re building Overtone to give it the care it deserves."