Ever went on a dating app and found someone cute, and then you think to yourself, “Hmm, maybe I should talk to this person.” So you do. But once you get the ball rolling and the conversation progresses, you realize that there’s just no chemistry. They just send you overused pick-up lines and the same tired old how-are-yous. Worse still, you crack a joke to break the ice and they just don’t get it. We’ve all been there.
But what if there was a dating app that could do away with the awkwardness and all those cliché exchanges that never work? Well, there is! It’s an app called “Schmooze”.
Like its name, which means to lively talk with someone to impress them, Schmooze is a dating app that matches users based on their sense of humor. According to the creator Vidya Madhavan, Schmooze utilizes a “humor algorithm” that is able to identify a user’s humor based on the memes they swipe right to, and match them with like-minded users.
Unlike common dating apps that present and sell the physical attributes of a person through their photos before anyone could get to know them, Schmooze goes straight to personality. Why? It’s because Madhavan thanks humor for being a very integral part of her life and relationships.
According to Madhavan, humor is one of the deepest ways to foster a relationship with another person. Not only do you get to laugh and feel alive, but you also get a glimpse into their character. “We put a smile on everyone’s face, while also helping people connect at a deeper level,” she said.
After a user has swiped right on a good amount of memes, the “humor algorithm” will take charge and match the user to another. Of course, the person can still choose if they want to “schmooze” or “snooze” on the person suggested for them.
Originally, Schmooze was only meant to be a friendship app. But why stop there? Speaking from experience, Madhavan shared how years ago she actually met her now-husband through humor and the internet. While she was still in India, Madhavan sent cold emails to 10 people on LinkedIn for business school advice in the U.S. She only received one reply but soon realized that she and this person already exchanged over 200 emails on jokes alone.
This inspired her to start Schmooze, and by 2020, the app was being tested on over 200 students at Stanford. Needless to say the app has gained over 10,000 downloads, 2.5 million meme swipes, and 100,000 matches to date. Not to mention that it just closed a 270-thousand-dollar seeding deal from Ulu Ventures to further its development.
Though the app is still in beta, Schmooze is already available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store for early access. So why not hop on over and try Schmooze for yourself. You never know but your perfect match could just be one meme away.