Online dating app TrulyMadly raises Rs 35 cr from Helion Venture, Kae Capital

Online dating app TrulyMadly has raised Rs 35 crore in their first round of funding from Helion Venture Partners and Kae Capital, sending a clear signal that online dating is finally finding mainstream acceptance in India. Co-founded by Sachin Bhatia, Hitesh Dhingra and Rahul Kumar, TrulyMadly launched its app in August 2014.

The TrulyMadly mobile app lets singles discover each other through shared interests and personality profiles.

TrulyMadly is the first app to promise safe online dating; particularly to women users; as it verifies and authenticates all user profiles before allowing them access to matches. The app is registering 100 per cent month on month (MoM) growth in downloads, with women users making up over 35 per cent of all app downloaders.

Sachin Bhatia, CEO & Co-founder, TrulyMadly said, “It’s heartening to have marquee investors like Helion & Kae on board as it reaffirms our faith in the model and approach. They bring a lot of credibility and experience with them, which will be very useful to help us scale and grow rapidly, as we prepare to serve an ever increasing number of users.”

“We have been the first to promote safe online dating through 100% verified profiles. As a result, women
users tend to prefer TrulyMadly over all other apps; making up as much as 35% of our user base. Also, the
incredible growth in TrulyMadly’s adoption indicates that online dating is today as acceptable to people as is exchanging mobile messages with friends,” Sachin added.

Ritesh Banglani, Partner, Helion Venture Partners said, “The Indian society is fast transforming and online dating is increasingly becoming acceptable. TrulyMadly is rightly positioned to ride the online dating boom. When we saw the engagement metrics that the team has managed month on month, we were convinced they were on to something big and that we had to be part of this story.”

Sasha Mirchandani, Managing Director & Founder, Kae Capital added “The team’s focus on creating an app for singles, keeping verification and compatibility in mind, is what attracted us to invest in TrulyMadly. We are happy to partner with the frontrunners in a rapidly growing market for online dating.”

TrulyMadly is the first dating app to promote safer online dating through 100 per cent verified profiles. The app allocates a ‘Trust Score’ to each new user; a higher Trust Score increases the number of potential matches for a user. Users can boost their Trust Score by getting their phone number and photo ID verified. All users need at least 30 per cent Trust Score to use the app.

TrulyMadly also has Deep Kalra (Founder & Group CEO, MakeMyTrip), Rajesh Magow (Co-founder & CEO, MakeMyTrip India) and Manish Vij (Founder of Tyroo) as angel investors.