Lisdoonvarna has long been the home of matchmaking, and now a tech team from the town has developed an app that allows users to meddle in their single friends’ love lives.
Liam Grant, Louisamay Hanrahan and Niamh McCabe have begun testing their app, Luvguru, which allows friends of a single person to match them up with others using Facebook.
Mr Grant, 26, said that the app was in part inspired by Willie Daly, the resident Lisdoonvarna matchmaker, who claims to have been the starting point of 3,000 marriages. “Being from Clare, matchmaking was very much part of the culture there and Willie was very much an inspiration for this,” he said.
Mr Grant said that dating sites in the US had begun to hire matchmakers to help them to bring users together.
“They have been inundated with people who wanted to do the job, and that’s what sparked our idea. Who better to set you up with someone than a friend?” he said.
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He said that rather than linking people based on algorithims using questionnaires or location, as many dating apps do, Luvguru worked more like traditional matchmaking.
“Most dating app companies focus on matching via computer algorithm and users’ choice — none have tapped into the power of the crowd. We found that a lot of people want to get on and help set their friends up. Irish people love to play matchmaker.
“We see referral systems in sales and in job hunting used to great effect. Luvguru merely capitalises on this premise in a matchmaking environment.”
Upon downloading the app, users are asked whether they are single or want to “meddle in your friends’ love lives”.
Those who want to play matchmaker are shown single friends and other single users and can introduce them to each other, leaving little notes as to their shared interests. If the single users chat in the app, the matchmaker earns points, playing to the competitive nature of many would-be Willie Dalys, Mr Grant said.
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One testimonial on the app’s website said that Luvguru had also helped to alleviate the “Fomo”, or fear of missing out, that a user had experienced watching single friends using dating apps. “I have been in a relationship for the last six years so I never got to use dating apps like Tinder. So now I am getting my swiping fix while helping my friends get a man. Win-win,” the user said.
The app also allows matchmakers to leave referrals for their friends, complimenting them and sharing some of their personality traits with potential partners.
Mr Grant said that while some estimates showed that half of all single people now used dating apps and websites and one in five relationships began online, many people were still reticent about meeting people through the internet. Luvguru claims that if a potential love interest comes recommended by a friend “there’s a better chance they won’t be an axe-wielding maniac”.
The app is currently free but could follow the path of Tinder, which recently added an optional subscription service.
Luvguru is taking part in the National Digital Research Centre’s Launchpad, a digital accelerator for early stage start-ups in Ireland. It will launch officially in mid-June.
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Looking for love online
• Online dating is now the third most common way to meet a partner in Ireland, according to research by eHarmony, one site. Meeting people at the pub or through friends are still the most popular.
• Those looking for love have thousands of options available, from free websites and apps to exclusive services such as Millionaire’s Club, which, as the name suggests, requires millions in the bank.
• Earlier this year the most popular app introduced Tinder Select, where celebrities can trawl through profiles of fellow rich and famous people. New members must be nominated by an existing user to be considered. Applicants then need to be approved by Tinder in order to be granted access to the world of supermodels, film stars and chief executives.
• Perhaps even more fickle than Tinder Select is BeautifulPeople.com, which bills itself as “online dating for beautiful people only”. The site claims to cater to only the world’s best-looking singletons and prides itself on maintaining “rigorous standards”. In 2015 it culled 3,000 users after online polls about their attractiveness.
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