Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
The founders of Sonder couldn’t bear to meet another dating app where someone boldly announced that their most controversial opinion is that they like pineapple on pizza.
“We haven’t learned that people get frustrated with calls or interviews or any of that,” co-founder Mehedi Hassan told TechCrunch. “We learned that because of what we’ve experienced – we’re like, it can’t be like that.”
This view – that dating apps are a scam – is about as close as bragging on Hinge that you’re Time Magazine’s 2006 Person of the Year (we all were!). So Hassan and three friends, all in their mid-twenties, set out to create a weaning program.
I am WithoutFour founders from London – Mehedi Hassan, Helen Sun, Lenard Pratt, and Hannah Kin – wanted to create an app that felt less like a job application and more like Pinterest or MySpace. (He cites MySpace as an inspiration, though he was too young to use it at its peak.)
“With the existing app format, the goal is to lower the barrier to entry and improve accessibility, allowing attendees to connect with the community more easily,” co-founder Helen Sun told TechCrunch. “These goals were very good in the beginning, but based on how the programs have evolved, I think they have become very difficult, and people are suffering from burnout because it is being disrupted.”
Sonder profiles are informal, encouraging users to create what looks like a mind board or a digital collage. People can connect with the program, but they can also go to the fun events that Sonder organizes, such as the “Speed Drawing” event, “Presentation Night,” or “Performative Male Contest” (and somethingI promise).
Sonder can be used for both platonic and romantic relationships, making personal experiences less intimidating – you’re not entering a place where everyone is staring.
Techcrunch event
San Francisco, CA
| |
October 13-15, 2026
“We have events every now and then, because it’s good when ordinary people come back,” Sun said. “It mimics running clubs in a way, where you have the chance to meet people, but there’s no pressure this way to work the first time you meet someone.”
Running clubs have become a wonderful way for people to meet face-to-face – an inspiration “Productivity-maxxers” is that even if you don’t make new connections, you will exercise. But not everyone likes to run, and not everyone feels their flirtation when they have sweat stains.
“I don’t like running,” Hassan replied. “Not everyone is interested in running clubs…Helen is interested in reading clubs, but you didn’t pay me to go to reading club.”
Sonder is not the first inventor to recognize that people may want to meet face-to-face. Even Tinder, the most “dating app” of all dating apps, is getting started personal experiences. But consumers are eager to try something new. For dating apps, early adopters can benefit from their anonymity — going to an IRL Tinder event feels as fun as going to the DMV, and trying something new feels fun.
“I think what we’re trying to bring back is the magic of bringing people together and meeting someone for the first time,” Sun said. “It needs to be unique, rather than just feeling like a job posting on LinkedIn.”
Dating apps are also introducing new features, such as Bumble’s The dating assistant is an AIor tool Tinder is testing it it scans your camera’s photos to get to know you better.
Sonder is not skeptical about AI. Hassan’s day job is in product engineering at Granolaa London-based AI writing program that recently raised $125 million at a $1.5 billion valuation. But they understand that Sonder’s users – about 6,500 in London they found without paid advertising – are not too keen on using AI in their dating lives.
Sonder still uses AI, though. It’s just less flashy about it than most apps. The app suggests matches to users by running LLM to analyze user profile pictures, to determine who they might want to meet. But Hassan says he refuses to launch any tools to create a reputation for AI.
“I think at that point, it loses the human touch,” he said. “So even though we’re losing hundreds of users, and there’s a lot of controversy about setting up the profile, we want to make sure it’s a real person who’s putting in the effort to create the profile, because I think that also serves as an indicator of how much effort you want to put into it.”
Sonder hasn’t raised any money, and its founders work on the app part-time, alongside their day jobs. But Hassan hopes Sonder can raise money and turn it into a full-time gig while still in London.
“Our life is boring for us, to be honest. We work 9 to 5, then we go to host the event at the end of the day,” he said. But the next day, when I watch the videos, it’s really nice to see people smiling so much and having such an honest conversation.”
