The Perfect Match

Forget about online dating. Matchmaking in the investment banking world is probably less fun, but potentially much more profitable.

- Andrew Leci

WHEN SEAN RAD started Tinder back in 2012 he could hardly have predicted how successful the company would become. In less than two months after inception, the dating app made more than one million matches, and Tinder picked up the prestigious (I’m told) ‘best new start-up of 2013’ award at the Crunchies – TechCrunch’s annual awards.

The rest is a history still in the making, with more than 50 million users across 196 countries and 1.6 billion ‘swipes’ per day.

I’ve not used the app, but I get the idea. You register a profile; detail your preferences; upload a picture (essential I gather) and then you’re offered a bunch of other people to ‘connect’ with as complex algorithms go to work in the process of helping you meet your match. While online dating has been around for a while, doing it on a smartphone is a relatively recent development – and a sound one based on the love affairs we already have with our mobile devices.