Image: Rick Bowmer/Associated Press
Tinder, the dating and hookup app, has become a runaway success over the past year and spawned plenty of offshoots.
Now, one Australian entrepreneur thinks there's room for a competitor targeted at the 50-plus demo.
Andrew Dowling is behind Stitch, an online dating service that nominally aims to provide "companionship" for users (rather than the one night stands Tinder is renowned for). This, plus a focus on interests over appearances, set the new service apart from Tinder. After running closed trials for the last few months, Stitch is accepting registrations in several locations. The site will be free for the time being, while it's in closed trial.
"Unlike the big dating companies which treat their users like cogs in a machine, we’re here to talk," the site explains. "Stitch is about people, not matching algorithms. We’re on a mission to eradicate social isolation for mature adults which means we honestly care about you."
The U.S. Census reports that 13.7% of the country's population â€" about 43.6 million people â€" are over the age of 65. (There are no stats about the over-50 crowd.)
Stitch's introduction follows other Tinder copycats like BarkBuddy, which is billed as the "Tinder for dogs," and "Hot or Not," which is more of a direct competitor.
Introduced last year, Tinder uses Facebook's social graph and geolocation data to match potential partners.
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