Pitch Deck: First-round dating app is on Me raises $3M round

Now the two are building FROM, which launched in 2020 and prioritizes planning a date instead of getting stuck in DMs.

“Swipe, in general, has facilitated and eliminated this problem,” said Joe. “It’s so easy to swipe – it’s like a game. It’s like playing Tetris or something, and that kind of dehumanized her to me.”

When building FROM, Joe and his team avoided going all out. While users are still sifting through a stream of potential matches, the act of matching someone requires users to ask that person out on a date — time, place, and all.

“We’re trying to re-educate how people use dating apps,” Joe said.

The startup announced in August that it had raised a $3 million seed round led by Manna Property Group, a family-owned investment office.

Fundraising is a bit like dating, it seems, Joe told BI.

“You have to have a certain personality where you’re not afraid of rejection,” he said. There is also a bit of a game to see which investor is aligned with the company’s goals and the founder’s vision.

FROM is growing at a time when other newcomers are emerging in the dating and social space.

“The big three players – Tinder, Bumble and Hinge – have the same kind of breeding process,” Hannah said. “Newer apps like us are making them more intentional.”

“I think people are more invested in Mom and Pop businesses where we have a purpose behind it,” Joe said. “We’re not a big conglomerate just trying to make money.”

However, FROM navigates the best way to make money as a dating app. It currently offers three tiers of premium memberships that unlock features like the option to send multiple meeting invites. The lowest option is $10 and the highest level is $25. The startup is also experimenting with in-person events as a revenue model.

It’s not all about dating, though. Joe said he sees FROM as part of a larger trend in which social tech startups are trying to help people connect IRL and feel more human.

“We want to make this a whole social movement where people still have that convenience of technology, but it gets us in person,” Joe said.

Read First Round’s 16-page presentation distributed to investors:

Note: A FROM spokesperson told BI that the package presented includes outdated figures and details, and some of the FROM team have changed since then.