College students are abandoning swipe-based dating apps in growing numbers, and a new wave of startups is betting that AI can do the matchmaking work instead. Ditto, founded by UC Berkeley dropouts Allen Wang and Eric Liu, has signed up 150,000 users by replacing the familiar swipe-and-chat interface with a text-message chatbot that pairs people based on deeper personality signals rather than shared hobbies.
The service, which operates through an iMessage number rather than a standalone app, has resonated with a generation that Wang says is “super tired of all the endless swiping and endless small talk.” Ditto reports that roughly 20% of its matches result in an actual date — a conversion rate that, while modest, highlights the gap between interest and action on traditional platforms.
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How Ditto’s AI matchmaking works
Instead of building a profile and browsing potential partners, Ditto users text a code to begin a conversation with an AI chatbot. The onboarding process starts with basic details like name, gender, and birth date, then moves into questions about personality, interests, and dating preferences. Some users go as far as uploading photos of celebrity crushes to help the AI understand their type.
Wang says the algorithm deliberately avoids matching people based on surface-level similarities. “If there’s this guy, and he’s really into rock climbing, skydiving, and outdoor sports, and this girl, if she’s into hip hop, streetwear, and skateboarding, then even though those hobbies don’t look similar on the surface, I can tell you deeper down, both are very adventurous,” he told TechCrunch. “Chemistry is actually predictable with the right signals.”
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Every Wednesday at 7 PM, users receive a match — along with a time and location for a date. The system then collects feedback after the date to refine future matches. “We are doing the heavy lifting for them,” Wang said. “They just simply go there and then meet whoever.”
Ditto creates a collage-style graphic to introduce matches and explain the reasoning behind the pairing, an aesthetic that has also been adopted by other Gen Z-focused connection apps like Sonder.
Safety, growth, and the path beyond college
For now, Ditto’s college-only footprint provides a built-in layer of trust: users must verify their .edu email, meaning matches are confirmed students at the same university. That verification becomes harder to maintain as the company expands to more schools and eventually beyond campus.
The startup, now based in San Francisco with twelve full-time employees, has attracted notable investor interest. Ditto raised $9.2 million in seed funding from Gradient, Peak XV, and Scribble, with Wang noting that “99% of the investors just reached out to us through inbound.” Even Duolingo co-founder Severin Hacker reached out to express support.
Ditto’s marketing leans into irreverent stunts, including robot videos and a “Chief Yacht Officer” job listing for promotional parties. Wang says this approach is deliberate: “Our users are college students, and they can smell corporate marketing from a mile away.” The challenge ahead is scaling that authenticity while maintaining safety standards — a hurdle that has proven difficult even for well-funded incumbents in the dating space.
As AI-driven matchmaking gains traction, Ditto’s early traction suggests that for some users, the friction of traditional dating apps has become a bigger obstacle than the fear of meeting strangers in person. Whether the model can survive expansion beyond the college bubble will be the next test.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. The startup and consumer app market is volatile and uncertain; readers should conduct their own research before making any decisions.
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