The Hinge founder’s new dating app lets AI be your matchmaker. There’s already a waitlist

Justin McLeod, founder of Hinge, has launched a new AI-powered matchmaking company called Overtone, which raised $18 million from investors including Match Group. The app uses AI to learn users' stories and make curated introductions, aiming to replace traditional swiping with a more personalized approach. Overtone will launch in select locations later in 2026.

Nearly 15 years ago, Justin McLeod founded Hinge, now known as “the dating app designed to be deleted.” Hinge stands out in the dating app landscape for prioritizing long-term connections over superficial snap decisions—but ultimately, it still relies on users responding to others’ prompts to show interest in potential matches. McLeod is setting out to change that. Not with an update to Hinge, but with an entirely new take on the dating app industry. In December of last year, he left Hinge to start a new AI https://www.fastcompany.com/section/artificial-intelligence -infused matchmaking company called Overtone. This week, he announced that he’s raised $18 million to support its launch later this year. As of its latest seed round, Overtone has raised $18 million from investors including FirstMark Capital, Pace Capital, and Match Group, which already owns dating apps including Tinder, OkCupid, and—yes—Hinge. In a blog post accompanying the funding announcement https://overto.ne/intro making-of-a-matchmaker , McLeod wrote that Overtone “is not a dating app” but a modern take on traditional matchmaking services. “It’s not a social platform with profiles that reduce people to stats, quotes and photos. There are no opaque, algorithmic feeds trained on split-second impulses. And there’s no juggling likes, matches and chats across many people at once,” he wrote. Instead, Overtone purports to learn each of its users’ stories in their own voice the inspiration for the company’s audio-based name , then make curated introductions only with other users that the app’s AI deems “worth making, grounded in relationship science and thoughtful reflection.” “The opportunities and perils of AI are staggering,” McLeod wrote of his choice to develop an AI-based dating app. “I worry deeply about its misuse, especially around something as intimate and sacred as love. At the same time, if approached thoughtfully and ethically, I believe we now have the chance to create an entirely new and better paradigm in dating.” Overtone will be available later in 2026 in select locations. For now, prospective users can join a waitlist to be on the app when it launches. McLeod first teased the new app in December https://overto.ne/intro introducing-overtone , announcing that he was leaving Hinge to explore the intersection of AI and human connection through Overtone, “an independent organization committed to exploring what’s possible when you combine cutting-edge AI capabilities with deep respect for the messy, human journey of connection.” “AI, if used correctly, can help us invent an entirely new way for people to find their partners that is far more personal, far more efficient, and far more effective,” McLeod wrote. “I’m approaching this new adventure with the same humility and beginner’s mind that I brought to Hinge’s reboot—guided by some basic core principles and a belief that we can do better.” Though a fully AI-based dating service may sound out of left field, there’s no denying that singles are tired of the standard dating app model. A recent Forbes Health survey https://www.forbes.com/health/dating/dating-app-fatigue/ found that 78% of all dating app users in America are experiencing dating app burnout, saying that the apps leave them feeling emotionally, mentally, and physically exhausted. That doesn’t mean AI is the answer, but Overtone is far from the only app blending the technology with matchmaking. Bumble recently announced an upcoming relaunch that will forgo swiping in favor of its own AI matchmaker https://www.fastcompany.com/91545621/your-next-bumble-match-may-be-chosen-by-ai-instead-of-your-thumb , set to release later this year. Facebook Dating, too, lets users employ AI to narrow down potential matches https://about.fb.com/news/2025/09/facebook-dating-adds-features-address-swipe-fatigue/ . Last year, Grindr announced its efforts to become AI-native https://www.fastcompany.com/91393167/grindr-gai-gay-i-ai-native , including creating an “AI wingman” to help users curate their profiles and keep track of conversations. Still, offloading something as human as romance to AI may feel like something out of a sci-fi dystopia—and for good reason. Computers determining romantic matches have been featured in bleak sci-fi worlds like Black Mirror : In the season four episode “Hang the DJ,” a complex simulation stands in for swiping on a futuristic dating app. That episode is one of the few across Black Mirror ’s seven-season tenure to feature a semi-happy ending. Maybe Overtone can deliver one, too.