Valentine's Day fever: New dating app Krush believes love is closer than you think

While matrimonial sites are widely accepted in India, dating sites/apps still seem to be at a nascent stage. Asking a girl or boy out on a date isn’t as smooth or as common as it is in Western countries; rather dating isn’t part of the conventional Indian way of finding love. But things are changing thanks to the invasion of mobiles and social networks. Today, there are several dating apps on all major platforms, leveraging social network connections to show you eligible suitors. A new app being revamped on Valentine’s Day comes from an Indian startup and it believes love is closer than you might think.   It’s called Krush nad it was founded by Rajat Rao, a Purdue University dropout, along with two ex-Googlers with a history in YouTube, Search, Blogger, and Google+. Krush takes the ‘friends of friends’ concept and adds a dating spin with emphasis on discretion. Download the app and link your Facebook account to see suggestions with whom you share at least one mutual friend. The app sends you a list of ten ‘friends of friends’ at 7 pm every day who you can choose to “Like” or “Skip” anonymously. If you happen to like someone and the person also liked you, then both of you find out that the feelings are mutual and can get in touch. However, unless the person likes you back, they won’t find out about you liking them. The idea is similar to **Hate With Friends** which emerged late last year, though the purpose is actually closer to **Bang With Friends** , without the explicit sex angle. [caption id=“attachment_218276” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]  The app sends you a batch of ten friends of friends at 7 pm daily who you are supposed to “Like” or “Skip” anonymously[/caption]   Krush will be competing with several dating apps such as Hinge, Tinder, OKCupid, Thrill and more. Launched in January for Android, it has now been completely revamped with a new smoother interface and major improvements to the matching algorithms as Valentine’s Day approached. There’s also an iOS version now. Android users can get the app from the Google Play Store while iOS users can sign up on the official website.   As for the question of whether yet another dating app could really work in India, Rao said, “The attitudes of India’s youth have transformed radically over the past 5 to 8 years. Indian youth are growing increasingly liberal and are not in a hurry to settle down any longer."   While it seems quite apt to have a revamped app ready for Valentine’s Day, how safe is it to use Krush? Unlike some other dating apps that often connect you to total strangers, Krush only suggests dates with friends of your Facebook friends, so there’s some extent of familiarity. Rao believes dating apps connecting people to strangers is a major reason none of them have really taken off in India because it creeps women out. Krush is completely anonymous and free of rejection. Talking about privacy and safety, there are several measures taken by Krush. For one, it doesn’t give out your phone number, exact location, or even your full name. No one can even send you a message unless you explicitly indicate interest in them and they reciprocate it.   The app already has over 8500 downloads on Android and Rao says it has made 240 successful matches, though there’s no way to verify how many have gone on to become serious relationships. And while the app is still very much in pre-revenue stage, the team is currently working on spreading word and there are some online campaigns planned around Valentine’s Day and the iOS release. The iOS release will no doubt spark a wave of new users from countries other than India, which could benefit the ecosystem as a whole, and could help get more people using Krush.