News Summary

The San Francisco-based startup ‘Known’, co-founded by Celeste Amadon and Asher Allen, is transforming the dating landscape with its voice AI-driven app that facilitates more in-person dates. The app utilizes a voice-powered AI onboarding system to gather user information, bypassing traditional form-filling methods. This innovative approach has resulted in an 80% success rate of introductions leading to physical dates, significantly surpassing the performance of swipe-based apps. Known has successfully raised $9.7 million in funding from investors such as Forerunner, NFX, Pear VC, and Coelius Capital. The startup is currently in its beta testing phase in San Francisco, charging $30 per successful date, and plans to launch early next year. The app’s design focuses on young females, leveraging AI to understand nuanced user preferences and enhance matchmaking. The founders, who dropped out of Stanford to pursue this venture, aim to address the loneliness epidemic by encouraging real-life connections. Known plans to expand its team with this newfound capital, setting itself apart in the competitive market of AI-powered dating apps.