Date Drop, a Stanford-originated project that matches users for one date per week based on a quiz rather than a profile scroll, raised a few million dollars from angel investors including Mark Pincus, the founder of Zynga.
The product is a deliberate reaction to swipe-based dating apps, which the founders argue have made it harder, not easier, to meet people. About 5,000 students have tried the service so far.
The parent company, called The Relationship Company, intends Date Drop to be the first product in a broader portfolio that extends into friendships and community events.
The challenge for any dating app that differentiates itself through constraints is scaling without losing the constraint.
Every app in the category started with a premise about why it was different. Most eventually converged toward the same mechanics because growth required appealing to a broader audience.
Whether Date Drop can expand beyond Stanford and maintain the specificity of its approach is the question its investors are implicitly betting on.