McLeod’s new venture, Overtone, is being spun out of Hinge with pre-seed funding from none other than Match Group, Hinge’s parent company. It’s a fascinatingly meta move: the big beast of online dating is funding a potential disruptor from within its own ranks. The mission? To use AI and, crucially, voice technology to help people forge more personal connections. It seems the industry is finally waking up to the fact that we’re all a bit tired.
The End of the Swipe-a-Thon?
Let’s be honest, the dating app evolution has been a mixed bag. We went from niche websites in the ’90s, which felt a bit like putting a personal ad in a digital newspaper, to the swiping revolution of the 2010s. Tinder made online dating mainstream, but it also turned it into a game of hot-or-not that feels about as romantic as sorting through a catalogue.
The result? A collective case of ‘swipe fatigue’. The endless carousel of faces becomes a blur, conversations fizzle out, and the whole process feels more like an administrative task than a search for a soulmate. The numbers back this up. As reported by TechCrunch, Tinder has seen its number of paying subscribers fall for nine consecutive quarters. Gen Z, in particular, is growing deeply disillusioned. They’ve grown up with this technology, and frankly, they’re not impressed.
So, what’s a tech founder to do when their target audience is bored to tears? You change the game. And that’s precisely what McLeod is trying to do with Overtone.
Listen Closely: The Bet on Voice
The big idea behind Overtone is voice-based matching. Instead of just looking at carefully curated photos and a witty-but-not-too-witty bio, the app wants you to listen. This isn’t just about leaving voice notes. The plan, as stated, is to use “AI and voice tools to help people connect in a more thoughtful and personal way.”
Think of it like this: a dating profile is like the list of ingredients for a recipe. It tells you the facts—job, height, love of hiking. But Overtone’s approach is like actually tasting the dish. The tone, the cadence, the hesitation, the humour in someone’s voice… these are the things that a list of stats can never capture. Social connection algorithms powered by voice could analyse these subtleties, matching people not just on what they like, but on how they communicate. It’s a move away from superficial data points and towards something that feels a bit more, well, human.
The Feeling Algorithm
This push towards deeper metrics is part of a wider trend involving emotional AI. This isn’t about creating sentient robots from a sci-fi film; it’s about designing algorithms that can recognise and interpret human emotional signals. Before leaving, McLeod’s team at Hinge had already dipped their toes in these waters.
Their own AI-powered recommendation feature, which analyses user behaviour to suggest more compatible matches, has already led to a 15% increase in matches and conversations. That is not a small number. It’s concrete proof that a smarter, more nuanced approach can yield better results than just showing people an endless stack of profiles. Other apps are following suit. Tinder is reportedly developing a feature called ‘Chemistry’ which, according to the same TechCrunch article, analyses users’ camera rolls (with permission, one hopes) to find commonalities. The race is on to crack the code of digital chemistry.
The Match Group Hedge
Now for the strategy part. Why would Match Group, a corporate giant, fund a small, experimental start-up that could, in theory, cannibalise its own billion-dollar baby, Hinge?
This is a classic ‘innovator’s dilemma’ play. Match Group sees the writing on the wall. They know the current model has a shelf life. By backing Overtone, they are essentially creating their own internal R&D lab, a skunkworks project to build the future of dating before an outsider does. It’s a calculated hedge.
– Portfolio Diversification: Match already owns the spectrum. It has Tinder for casual connections and high volume, and Hinge for more intentional dating. Overtone is their bet on the next frontier: deep, AI-driven connection.
– Risk Mitigation: Letting McLeod develop this outside of Hinge’s main structure is smart. It allows Overtone to be nimble and take risks without jeopardising Hinge’s core business, which is on track to hit a staggering $1 billion in revenue by 2027.
– Leadership Stability: Meanwhile, Hinge is left in the capable hands of its former President and CMO, Jackie Jantos. In a statement, she confirmed their focus will remain on “intentional innovation,” a signal that the mothership will continue its steady, profitable course while McLeod ventures into uncharted territory.
Can an Algorithm Truly Understand a Vibe?
This all sounds promising, but let’s pour a little cold water on the hype. The central challenge for Overtone and the future of AI relationship technology is immense. Can an algorithm truly capture the intangible spark of human connection?
Sarcasm, dry wit, vulnerability, playful banter—these are the textures of real interaction. A machine can be trained to recognise pitch and pace, but can it understand a vibe? As Jantos herself said about Gen Z, “This is a generation that has grown up with a deep understanding…”. They have a finely tuned radar for inauthenticity. If Overtone feels like just another-over-engineered system trying to quantify human emotion, it will fail.
For this technology to truly succeed, it needs to be invisible. It should feel less like a matchmaking machine and more like a facilitator, a digital wingman that subtly guides you towards interesting people you might actually get on with in the real world.
The path ahead for Overtone is a tightrope walk between innovation and intuition. McLeod is betting that the sound of someone’s voice is a more powerful signal of compatibility than a thousand pictures. It’s a bold and fascinating bet on a future where dating apps might finally encourage us to talk less and listen more. The question is, are we ready to let an AI do the listening for us?
What do you think? Would you trust an algorithm that analyses your voice to find you a partner? Let me know your thoughts below.
