Grindr Founder Creates Dating App ‘Motto’

Joel Simkhai, the founder of popular dating app Grindr, has created a new dating app for the gay community. Named ‘Motto’, the app looks to create higher quality matches, with “no headless torsos” displayed on user profiles.

In an interview with Gizmodo, Simkhai explains that the app is trying to mimic the experience of meeting someone in real life, where you can look them in the eye and assess them. Therefore it is distancing itself from ‘headless torso’ photos that are found on similar apps.

He hopes that users don’t spend more than 10 minutes on Motto daily. Rather than scrolling endlessly, possibly harming their mental health, Motto will try and find users a match quickly. Machine learning and manual matchmaking will make this possible, the article highlights.

The app sends users 5-10 verified profiles everyday. Users then have the decision to either send a profile reaction to someone they’re interested in, or pass on people they’re not interested in.

The app only launched in the past few days, with its market being New York City.