Compiled by Eric Johansson on 10 October 2016 monday. Published in Scaling up, Interviews
Whenever Robyn Exton launched a dating app for homosexual females, she didn’t foresee exactly how it can additionally alter lives all around the globe
Robyn Exton had been for an objective. Outfitted with red fluorescent tights, a white vest and a holster around a bottle to her waist of alcohol dangling from each hip, she dashed between sets of ladies in nightclubs. Making them slim in to know her on the roar for the music, Exton stated: “I have app that is new Dattch of course you sign up now you’ll get a free of charge shot of tequila.”
Brief for “date catch”, Dattch ended up being the pre-cursor to Her, the dating application for queer, bisexual and homosexual ladies this is certainly now matching individuals around the world. Most of that success may be caused by Exton’s nightly escapades in 2013, exchanging shots for signups. “We got our very very first 1,000 people this way,” she claims.
If you’re shocked by her no muss, no hassle method of marketing, take into account that Exton is definately not your normal technology business owner. “You hear a whole lot from founders whom say they’ve always operate a business or that entrepreneurship runs within their families – that’s not me personally after all,” she says. In fact, up to many years ago, Exton worked in the advertising agency Calling Brands, which bestowed her along with her very first peek behind the curtains associated with industry that is dating. “One of my customers had been a business that is dating i acquired really stoked up about the sector,” claims Exton.
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Nonetheless, the concept to introduce a dating application didn’t arrived at her until a Sunday she invested during the pub. “My buddy had simply split up together with her girlfriend,” describes Exton. Attempting to return back to the relationship game, Exton’s buddy asked her just what sites that are dating had been utilizing. Since the discussion progressed, it became clear that the range of quality online dating sites and apps for lesbians had beenn’t simply restricted; it absolutely was non-existent.
While straight individuals swiped away on Tinder and homosexual men matched on Grindr, there isn’t a software made for women who had been interested in females.
“Queer females had no genuine choices,” says Exton. Fed up with seeing her buddies get by with subpar matchmaking communities, she attempted to improve gay women’s dreadful electronic relationship experiences. “i needed to create one thing better and much more highly relevant to females that will really suggest one thing to them,” she claims.
Her first rung on the ladder towards starting the application would be to immerse by herself into the London technology scene. “I started initially to go to occasions and start to become more involved,” she says. As an element of her efforts to hone her technical knowledge, Exton subscribed to an eight-week coding program during the General Assembly, the technology college. She additionally took in freelancers to augment her own knowledge which help her away with very very early variations associated with the software.
However, registering techies does not come cheap: Exton needed to inject some severe money in the business enterprise. In lieu of investors, she bootstrapped the startup by ploughing in £10,000 of her very own cost cost savings, going back together with her dad, using a additional task at a pub and attempting to sell several of her belongings. However these sacrifices ultimately paid once the group completed the version that is first of. “I quit my task the time we submitted it to Apple,” she says.
Her infusion that is first of cash arrived in March 2013 whenever Dattch joined up with Wayra, Telefónica’s startup accelerator. “The initial investment really was vital that you me personally she says because I could hire full-time team members. “That made a massive distinction.” But the startup didn’t simply enjoy the ¤40,000 granted by Wayra: moreover it benefitted from joining a residential district of other startups. “You had been all doing similar things, you built great friendships and there clearly was a knowledge that is fantastic,” she says.