Let’s be honest: modern dating apps feel more like slot machines than soul-searching tools. But Sitch wants to change that—with a Y2K-era nod to old-school matchmaking and a futuristic layer of AI. It’s built not around swipes, but around substance. And it might just be the first dating app you don’t regret downloading.
Co-founded by Nandini Mullaji and Chad DePue, Sitch brings matchmaking back to its roots—the kind where your auntie knows you better than you know yourself. Except this time, your auntie is powered by LLMs. Mullaji, who grew up watching her grandmother matchmake in India, brings that intuition to a tech-first experience that treats dating as more than just a numbers game.
“Matchmaking is a data problem,” Mullaji explains. “I’ve been good at matchmaking because I had so much more information about two people than a dating app would have”
Unlike the dating apps that flood your screen with half-baked profiles, Sitch slows it down. Onboarding is intentional. You’re not just uploading selfies and choosing emojis. Instead, you’re answering close to 50 deeply personal questions—by voice or text—about your values, lifestyle, and what you’re really looking for. That data feeds a matchmaking model trained on 75+ human-vetted parameters that actually simulate how a real matchmaker thinks.
The result? Personalized, AI-powered match suggestions that don’t require swiping at all. If you and a suggested match both say yes, Sitch opens a group chat with the AI to keep things moving. You can even give feedback after a date to sharpen your future matches.
Backed by $7 million in funding from M13 and a16z speedrun, Sitch isn’t interested in turning love into a dopamine loop. There are no likes, no endless scroll, and no manipulative microtransactions. Instead, you buy curated setups in packs: three matches for $89.99, five for $124.99, or eight for $159.99. Think of it as an affordable alternative to a real matchmaker—without the awkward coffee shop intros.
Sitch is currently live in New York, and every profile is manually reviewed to ensure quality and safety. It’s a promising launch in a market that’s been craving something more meaningful. As traditional dating apps scramble to slap AI onto their aging platforms, Sitch is already miles ahead—building from the ground up with privacy, intent, and emotional depth baked in.
If you’ve ever felt like your dating app treats you more like a data point than a person, Sitch might be your antidote. It’s slow dating with a smart edge. A throwback to when matchmaking meant something, remixed for a generation ready to swipe left on the algorithm.
