Matrimony Startup Betterhalf Secures $8.5 Mn In Series A Round Of Funding

AI-enabled matrimony startup Betterhalf has raised $8.5 Mn (INR 70.2 Cr) in its Series A round of funding. The round saw the participation of FinSight Ventures, Rebel Fund and Nurture Ventures.

Angel investors Mike Krieger (cofounder of Instagram), Arash Ferdowsi (cofounder of Dropbox), Derek Callow (former Bumble CMO) and Brendan O’Driscoll (former product head at Spotify), among others, also invested in this funding round, VCCircle reported.

The funding round follows after the Betterhalf raised $3 Mn in its Pre-Series A round in May 2021 from investors such as S2 Capital and Quiet Capital, along with angel investors Kunal Shah and Samvit Ramadurgam.

The startup was also a part of Y Combinator’s Winter 2021 cohort when the early-stage accelerator invested $500K in the startup.

Founded in 2016 by MIT graduates Pawan Gupta and Rahul Kumar Namdev, Betterhalf targets high-income individuals in Tier I cities of the country. Betterhalf also claims to have created the fastest AI-based matchmaking system in the world, having patented the system in the US (US Patent No. 16/777,773). 

Betterhalf claims to use the relationship data of couples worldwide and leverage AI to provide a combination of personalised experiences. This includes a targeted subset of matches and a quick turnaround time to find the most suitable partners. 

The startup also offers human matchmakers, who can allow for a more personalised search. It also offers multiple wedding services, including decor, venues, photographers and makeup. Recently, Betterhalf has introduced wedding loans as well, along with wedding planning services.

The startup competes with Anupam Mittal’s Shaadi.com, BharatMatrimony and Info Edge’s Jeevansaathi, among others. According to the VCCircle report, the startup has recorded a 3X rise in its number of users over the past nine months. 

Matrimonial services in India are a big deal and play a crucial role in a majority of weddings across the country. Per a Statista report, India’s online matrimonial services were raking in a revenue of around $260 Mn in 2022, up 2.4X as compared to $110 Mn in 2017.

Recently, it was reported that Tinder’s parent company Match Group was in talks to acquire a stake in Shaadi.com. The development comes nearly five months after Anupam Mittal, the CEO and founder of Shaadi.com, said that the matrimony platform was looking to go public in the latter half of 2023.