New dating app goes for a more professional approach, uses LinkedIn information
May 6, 2014, 3:41 AM | Updated: 3:41 am
You might think of LinkedIn as a buttoned-up, professional service, but a new app is using data from the networking giant for a completely different purpose.
The Wall Street Journal reports the app LinkedUp!, which is currently compatible only with iPhones and other iOS devices, helps people find dates — and makes sure the prospective partner is gainfully employed.
The WSJ says the app is similar to dating services like Tinder or Hinge, both of which pull information from users’ Facebook profiles. However, LinkedUp! is the first dating app to use information from LinkedIn, although the two have no formal affiliation. In fact, you can use your LinkedIn user name and password to log in to the app.
Max Fischer, the 28-year-old founder of the app and a former investment banker, said he believes the LinkedIn data “is going to result in much higher-quality matches.” Because a LinkedIn profile is essentially a digital résumé, “people get a really true sense of where someone’s from, what they do, and where they went to school, which are the main questions people ask in terms of dating,” he said in an interview.
Fischer said that he’s also in the market for venture-capital funding, and that he had the idea for the app about a year ago when he saw young professionals using LinkedIn for more than just business networking. The founder denies that LinkedUp! encourages office romance.
Of course, intentions may vary. In a recent survey, 84% of workers aged 18-29 said they’d be open to dating a coworker.
Fischer added that the app’s user base has doubled in the past month and it has gained traction in areas like New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. He said he is planning a hard launch for the app in the near future.
A LinkedIn spokesperson declined the WSJ’s request for comment.
