Humpday Raises Investment from Antler

Humpday, the Australian dating app that is only active on Wednesdays, has been backed by early stage investment company Antler. The founders of the dating app and the investors have shared their perspective on the online dating market.

A new report from StartupDaily details the partnership between dating app Humpday and their investors Antler Australia.

Humpday looks to cure online dating dissatisfaction by encouraging intentional and thoughtful interactions, hence its one-day-a-week operational period. The platform will match users through an algorithm based on psychologist-approved questions.

It also provides opportunities for IRL connections at offline events. It has hosted sold-out dating events in Sydney and Melbourne, recording a 30% rate of attendees exchanging contact information.

“The culmination of lived experience, comprehensive research, and customer surveys and interviews have fuelled us with an immense understanding of the frustrations dating app users have with the current offerings”, explained Kara Zervides, CEO of Humpday.

The dating app has been backed by Antler Australia, which is on a mission to support local tech companies in the region. 

“We’re incredibly excited to back Humpday as they revolutionise the dating experience. What attracted Antler to Humpday, apart from its innovative 24-hour Wednesday-only model, is its focus on restoring the value of real, face-to-face interactions”, said Mike Abbott, Partner at Antler in Australia.

“Kara and Charlotte have shown they have the grit, resilience, and complementary skills to execute on this vision. The startup’s data-driven approach to reducing dating app fatigue and the impressive traction they’ve already gained with their waitlist and sold-out events are testament to that”, he added.

“The level of engagement from their user community also indicates a strong product-market fit, which aligns perfectly with our investment thesis”, Abbott shared. Looking ahead, Humpday looks to launch its mobile app in February 2024, with its pre-seed funding going towards the MVP development and expansion of offline events.

“Antler has been a hugely supportive backer, offering well-rounded mentoring and invaluable connections with industry and product leaders, helping supercharge our growth”, shared CEO Kara.

“We want to make offline dating the online dating. We believe we can use technology to power authentic connections in order to combat dating app fatigue, but also the widespread loneliness epidemic”, she added.

Read the full interview here, and find out more about Humpday on its website here.