The 30-year-old founder uses AI to help singles find love

For Nandini Muraji, romantic setup has always been a way of life.

The 30-year-old grew up in Mumbai, India, saying, “Matchmaking is a very strong part of culture,” she says. In fact, Muraji's grandmother was a matchmaker and successfully founded two aunts.

Muraji attended a boarding school in the US, then undergraduate at Georgetown University, and eventually Stanford combined an MBA to earn a Masters degree in Education. It was there that she faced one of the major problems of modern dating. People were tired of swiping.

Her friend was “a successful, good looking, amazing woman,” but she says, “they were afraid they would have to go back to the app.”

In 2023, Mullaji, who was part of a team that started Bumble in India a few years ago, built her first dating app, the setup. She quickly realized that it didn't offer a dating like the solution it needed.

“It didn't feel like this big, life-changing product,” she says. “It felt like a function.”

The following year, Muraji met Chad Depue, who previously led the Snapchat and Microsoft teams. Two large-scale language models, such as ChatGpt, can be used to create AI matchmakers that lean towards Muraji's hometown traditions. Together they built Sitch, a paper-per-setup app that uses AI to identify the best romantic matches released in December 2024.

There was a lot of interest from both enthusiastic singles and investors in how AI would affect the future of dating. As of July 2025, Sitch raised $6.7 million in pre-seed and seed funding, boasting “tens of thousands of users,” Mullaji said.

Here's why Sitch has something other apps don't, and why Mullaji believes AI matchmaking is a modern dating need.

Muraji has identified several issues with current dating apps.

First, she says users have too many options. Secondly, according to Mullaji, app messages rarely lead to actual dates. A 2022 survey by Stanford University researchers surveyed over 1,000 Tinder users, half said they were not interested in actually meeting offline.

Most importantly, Mullaji says that information you can get about people through dating apps is limited and superficial, leading to “a fundamental discrepancy in value that will only be revealed in a few days.”

Dates are tired of dates that don't go anywhere and feel like a waste of time and money. Mullaji and Depue's solution is to let AI do heavy lifting ahead. This is to distinguish between apps like Bumble, which use AI primarily to increase user safety and hinge.

On its website, Sitch promises “actually affordable personal matchmakers” and introduces people who actually have a vibe. ”

Singles can download apps via the app's website prompts, or request a phone via the app's prompts to talk to AI chatbots trained about Mullaji's own experience as a matchmaker.

The user then answers the questions raised by “Matchmaker.” They include simple questions about your interests and ideal dates, but also questions intended to deepen and identify people's priorities and values, such as who you've dated in the past, what you liked, and what your dating goals are.

If your app has at least 5 possible matches based on user preferences, it starts sending those methods. After that, users can ask questions about others and when the app suggests who is interested in who is interested, AI Matchmaker introduces them in group chats like friends.

Sitch users pay to make the setup a successful one. The app offers packs of 3, 5 or 8 setups, priced at $90, 125 or $160. According to its website, the app justifies the cost by explaining that paid users are “serious and committed to meeting with the IRL.”

However, Muraji, like any other technology, recognizes that problems arise.

“It can go wrong with conversation,” she says. of possibilities. For example, AI can give false advice about potential dates or hallucinate false details about people.

“But I think these can be fixed over time,” she adds.

Muraji said one plus about AI matchmakers and human matchmakers is that people aren't afraid to hurt their feelings and aren't filtering what they say.

“They are so incredibly true,” she says.

Sitch claims that its honesty means that the AI Matchmaker Filter wants exactly what individual Daters are looking for in their relationships and partners. Essentially, users don't waste time and money on people and dates that don't fit their bills. They also have better shots to find a long-term match.

However, part of Sic's process is still human-driven. This app manually reviews new user applications that contain validation selfies.

Sitch lives in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles, and users of the app have already dated thousands. Many of them report working with AI matchmakers is a more positive experience compared to using traditional dating apps.

James Harter, 31, felt that he was effective in identifying people who actually enjoyed the time after using Sitch for several months. “I think there was every date I went on, a second date,” he says. Harter has recently met someone in person and is currently not using the app.

Karishma Thawani, 35, came out in two different people he met on Sitch, one in two days and the other in five days. She's going to continue using it. Because unlike the endless swipes on other dating apps, Sitch “feels more curated,” she says.

“When I get referred each week, I feel special,” says Thawani. “I'm waiting for that.”

Such help and approaches are “really our vision,” Muraji says. “[To] give Everyone who can help guide them on a journey to learn who they are, what they are looking for, find that person, fall in love, and stay in love.

The company is expected to launch in Chicago and Austin by the end of 2025. “We hope that Sitch will become global by 2030,” Mullaji says. “We have democratized access to having a matchmaker to help you make the most important decisions of your life.”

Do you want to stand out, grow your network and get more employment opportunities? Sign up for CNBC's Smarter and create a new online course. How to build an outstanding personal brand: Online, directly, at work. Learn from three expert instructors how to showcase your skills, build a great reputation, and create a digital presence that AI can't replicate. Sign up today with coupon code Earlybird to receive a 30% introductory discount on the regular course price of $67 (tax). The offer is valid until July 22, 2025 and September 2, 2025.

plus, Sign up for CNBC Make It's Newsletter Get tips and tricks for success in the workplace, money, and in life, and Request to join our exclusive LinkedIn community Connect with experts and friends.