The next generation of apps we use to find love may not look like the dating app we are used to.
Amber Atherton, a partner at consumer-centric venture capital firm Patron, believes that artificial intelligence will dramatically change the way people meet online. Instead of swiping through profiles or scrolling through feeds, the platform uses what you know about you to find new connections.
The startup is building the “Relationssion OS” platform for Atherton Dubs. They told Business Insider that they use Agent AI (such as Autonomous Driving Assistant) to “mine more relevant connections” and “mining networks.”
“Essentially, there are agent social networks that I think are going to show up that it's not packaged as a dating app,” Atherton said. “It's packaged as this operating system for relationships.”
They are not just for love.
“The idea is that evergreen AI assist networks that can surface connections related to friendship, romance and professional life are always on,” Atherton said.
The two startups that Atherton mentioned as examples are:
- The board has acquired the status of an “AI Super Connector” for experts.
- Gigi recently changed from AI-powered dating apps to “AI Social Connectors” for everything from friendships to partnerships to projects, following the list in the Apple App Store.
(Patrons are not any of these investors.)
“I think we'll come out more of them,” Atherton said. “The wedges they start are professional, but they build your trust and they start to branch out into more friendships, hobbies, dates.”
Atherton said the space was “early”.
Still, patrons are actively investing in related technical papers, Atherton said.
That's not the only place to see startups in this area. Focusing on other consumers, the VC has also expressed interest in helping startups deal with loneliness.
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Looking for next-generation consumer technology
While some VC companies have exacerbated consumer investment, Patron has focused on the hyper in this space.
In 2024, patrons closed the $100 million fund and invested in seed-stage consumer startups with checks ranging from $2 million to $5 million.
“We see this landscape of new consumer startups through the lens of gaming,” Atherton said.
Its co-founders, Brian Cho and Jason Ye, are former executives at Riot Games, and Atherton worked for Discord after acquiring Community Software startup Zyper.
“How do you build a consumer product that people want to spend hundreds of thousands of hours?” Atherton said. “Your identity is tied to it, you enjoy it there, and it's a place to hang out.”
In May, Atherton published a blog post detailing “including the “relational OS” paper). There, they believe that a multi-billion dollar company could emerge, which is considered “a consumer business being built.”
Below are three other themes she is paying attention to in consumer relations technology.
- A community platform that promotes real life (IRL) connectivity. “Platforms that leverage AI, augment human hosts and promote real-world connections around shared interests, events or communities can counter dating fatigue,” Atherton wrote in his blog. She told BI that 222, an app that coordinates IRL activities with strangers, falls into this category, and Real Roots is classified as Real Roots, an IRL app for women who want to make friends in the city.
- Consumer products to maintain relationships. And it includes our relationship with ourselves, Atherton said. “A new class of apps map and enrich our close relationships,” she wrote in a blog post. Atherton cited Sign, an AI-driven oral history platform for families, as an example.
- A shared experience in the form of a virtual ritual. “The next breakout platform will make the shared experience feel more concrete again,” writes Atherton. The patrons invested in Aliya, an AI-driven intimate coach for couples, who Atherton said would fall into this bucket. She also told BI that apps like Moonlight, a Tarot card app, create rituals and connections.
