Vana Koutsomitis’ dating app, DatePlay, continues to be a crowdfunding success as it surpasses over £200,000 in funds on Seedrs. “The Apprentice” runner-up and her team launched the campaign on the funding portal last month to raise £120,000 for the app’s development. Within a matter of three days, the initiative captured its initial goal.
DatePlay’s free app users will notably have all benefits of the dating and gaming concept while premium users will be able to access other features including increased messaging, messaging into new locations, invitations to exclusive events and more. Vana shared details about the app and how it stands out from its competitors:
“The difference between DatePlay and the others is that we add an element of fun to the dating experience by integrating games into the interface. Tinder can engage you for short periods of time but once you have enough matches and once you’ve swiped left and right enough times, you start to get a little bit crazy. You’re just like, over it.”
The DatePlay crew revealed that the app is currently in the final stages of production and is set to be launch in beta testing this fall, with a full roll-out and marketing launch to reportedly coincide with the next season of The Apprentice on BBC1. The app already has 20,000 sign ups. Funds from the Seedrs campaign will be used to complete the app, and the remaining cost will be used through the launch phase. During a recent update, the team announced they were accepted into the Mass Challenge Accelerator program:
“We have very exciting news! We just found out that we have been accepted to Mass Challenge, a world-renowned startup accelerator program. The company has 835 alumni who have collectively raised more than £1 billion, generated £440 million in revenues, and created more than 50,000 jobs. We can’t wait to be a part of this amazing group of entrepreneurs! The program takes 0% equity in our company and helps foster our growth so we can make DatePlay huge.”
The early-stage startups coming to MassChallenge UK are chosen based on their impact and potential, with the intention to make an impact on the economy, create jobs, and solve some of the world’s biggest problems.
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