Woo

Operating under DoubleYou Technologies Pvt Ltd, Woo is a mobile dating application designed to serve the Indian market and the global Indian diaspora. The company was established in 2014 by co-founders Sumesh Menon, who serves as the CEO, and Ankit Nautiyal, the CTO. Both founders brought prior entrepreneurial experience from their work at U2opia Mobile, a mobile technology company from which Woo was incubated. Menon, a serial entrepreneur and angel investor, identified a gap in the market between casual dating apps and traditional matrimonial sites, aiming to cater to urban singles seeking meaningful relationships.

Woo positions itself as a matchmaking platform for young, urban professionals looking for a life partner. The business model operates on a freemium basis; core features are free, but users can subscribe to 'WooPlus' for enhanced functionalities. This subscription-based revenue model provides access to premium features, differentiating it from ad-based or microtransaction-dependent platforms. The platform targets a demographic of financially independent individuals, primarily aged 25 to 35, who have moved to large cities and are looking to take charge of their own partner selection process, a shift from India's traditionally parent-arranged marriages.

The application facilitates connections based on shared interests, lifestyles, and ambitions rather than solely traditional metrics. A key feature is 'TagSearch', which allows users to filter profiles based on specific attributes like profession, interests, or background. To address safety and privacy concerns, particularly for its female users, Woo incorporates several unique functionalities. 'Woo Phone' enables women to make voice calls through the app without revealing their personal phone number. Furthermore, the platform maintains user privacy by displaying only initials for female users and ensures that a private chat room only opens upon mutual liking of profiles. In 2017, Woo expanded its global footprint by acquiring DUS, a Los Angeles-based dating app for South Asian singles, to better reach the Indian diaspora in the US, UK, and Canada.

Keywords: mobile dating, matchmaking app, Indian singles, relationship-focused dating, urban professionals, Sumesh Menon, Ankit Nautiyal, freemium model, online dating India, South Asian diaspora, women-centric dating, WooPlus, interest-based matching, DoubleYou Technologies, privacy features, matrimonial alternative, dating platform, global Indian community, Woo Phone, TagSearch