Indian dating apps, services see surge of paying users in small cities | Economic Times

NEW DELHI: For Indian dating apps and services, small cities and towns are now driving the growth more than the metros.According to companies like Aisle and Truly Madly, which have millions of users and position themselves as “serious” dating apps, and bespoke high-end dating services like Sirf Coffee, a lot more users from such places are not only keen on using these apps, but also willing to pay for it.While users for these apps from small cities and towns have been growing for some years now, Covid-19 has accelerated this trend. Users are willing to shell anywhere between Rs 699 a week and up to Rs 3,000 an hour for a dating coach.Snehil Khanor, founder of Truly Madly, which has 8 million users so far, said its revenue had grown four times since last year. But what is interesting is that compared to the top eight metro cities, the ‘rest of India’ category, which includes smaller cities and towns, are growing twice as fast as the former. Revenues in Guwahati, Bhubaneshwar, Patna, Surat and Nagpur increased tenfold in the last year. This, despite the company, which had picked up $1.1 million in funding in August, deciding to set the minimum spending by users at Rs 699 a week. It had posted Rs 3.45 crore of revenue in the year ended March 31, 2020.The company, which has 18 employees, is planning to ramp up its tech team by another 10 members. At Sirf Coffee, a high-end handpicked dating service which charges around Rs 25,000 for six months, interest from small cities has been growing, said cofounder Naina Hiranandani. The company has around 800 clients, a mix of Indians and NRIs. This number is about 50% more than 2019. Many high-achieving women who come from small cities like Aurangabad or Lucknow say they have very limited options when it comes to finding a partner, Hiranandani said. They don’t want to go down a traditional route as they don’t want to be judged on parameters like whether they can cook, or what time they can come home and are willing to pay a premium for a “safe space” to explore dating. Aisle, a relationships app that is focused on what founder Able Joseph calls “high-intent dating” that has the potential to end up in marriage, says its user base had grown 20-30% faster than a usual year, with revenue growing pan-India. The company’s next big focus area is users from a few select tier-2 and 3 cities, although Joseph did not specify which ones. Aisle had clocked revenue of Rs 7.6 crore in FY20, and has around 2.5 million users.“These are places where there’s no dating infrastructure. There might be a total of three cafes in the entire town,” said Joseph, adding that people in such areas were looking for a serious relationship in most cases, not casual dating.Those who have travelled back to their hometowns after living in bigger cities are now influencing their peers back home, leading to the apps gaining sudden momentum in smaller towns.Simran Mangharam, a dating coach and cofounder of Floh, an offline dating service which has now paused operations due to the pandemic, said many of her clients came from places like Visakhapatnam, Indore, Lucknow and Bhopal. Most of them are people who had migrated out to big cities, and are now back due to the pandemic and find themselves yearning for connection even as their families pressure them for marriage. Mangharam helps them figure out how they can increase their chances of finding a partner, or navigate a relationship they’re currently in. Sessions cost Rs 3,000 an hour.Apps such as Aisle and Truly Madly, which position themselves as “serious” relationship apps are doing well in these areas.