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Dating startup Rivet has raised $10.5 Mn (about ₹100.6 Cr) in seed funding from Peak XV Partners, Shine Capital, and Blume Ventures to build and scale its community-driven matchmaking platform. The startup plans to use the fresh capital to develop its product, expand distribution, and scale across the US. It announced its nationwide US launch yesterday. Besides US, Rivet has an office in Delhi NCR, with its engineering and machine learning teams largely based in India. Founded in 2025 by former Tinder and Match Group executive Taru Kapoor and Rajat Sahni, who previously served as CEO of CarDekho’s used-car business, Rivet offers a dating platform built around community recommendations. The startup calls its model “social matching”. Users can join as “matchers” to assess potential pairs and recommend introductions they think would work. These recommendations contribute to a social matching score for each potential pair. Pairs with high scores are introduced to each other, after which both individuals independently decide whether to connect and begin a conversation. People who are not looking to date can also join solely as matchers. The startup describes its model as a “give-to-get” approach, allowing users to help others find connections while receiving recommendations for themselves. The startup also counts former Tinder and OkCupid CEO Elie Seidman among its early investors. Seidman advised and mentored Kapoor during Rivet’s development. The startup competes with dating and matchmaking platforms such as Tinder, Hinge, Bumble, The League, and Wingman. Its community-driven approach makes participation by people willing to recommend matches an important part of its expansion, alongside attracting singles seeking connections. Rivet’s pitch centres on addressing the frustration of browsing profiles without finding a connection. Kapoor argued that while dating apps expanded the pool of potential partners, they also made the experience feel transactional and isolating. The startup is betting that recommendations from other people can help surface potential matches that users might otherwise dismiss on swipe-based apps.
document fetched 2026-09-26 02:50 · canonical https://inc42.com/buzz/rivet-bags-10-5-mn-from-peak-xv-others-to-scale-dating-platform-in-us