Why the next app for relationships won't look like a dating app, according to a VC

Amber Atherton is a partner at venture capital firm Patron.Carlos Osorio/Sportsfile for Collision via Getty ImagesThe era of dating apps as we know it could be squashed by artificial intelligence.Amber Atherton, a partner at VC firm Patron, thinks AI will transform relationship-building.She's on the hunt for what she thinks could be a multimillion-dollar business in consumer tech.The next generation of apps we use to find love may not look like the dating apps we're used to.Amber Atherton, a partner at consumer-focused venture capital firm Patron, thinks artificial intelligence will dramatically change how we meet people online. Instead of swiping through profiles or scrolling through a feed, platforms in the AI era will use what they know about you to find new connections.Startups are building what Atherton dubs "relationship OS" platforms. They're using agentic AI (such as autonomous assistants) to "make more relevant connections" and "mine your network," Atherton told Business Insider."There's an agentic social network basically that I think is going to emerge that is not packaged as a dating app," Atherton said. "It's packaged more as this operating system for relationships."They're not just for love."The idea being that it's always on, evergreen AI-assisted network that can surface connections that are relevant for friendship, romance, professional life," Atherton said.Two startups that Atherton mentioned as examples include:Boardy, which hails itself as an "AI super connector" for professionals.Gigi, which recently rebranded from an AI-powered dating app to an "AI social connector" for everything from friendship to partnership to projects, per its Apple App Store listing.(Patron is not an investor in either of these.)"I think we're going to see more of those emerge," Atherton said. "Maybe the wedge they start with is professional, but then they build your trust, and they start branching out more into friendship, hobbies, dating."Atherton said the space is "nascent."Still, Patron is actively investing in its relationship tech thesis, Atherton said.It's not alone in watching startups in this space. Other consumer-focused VCs have also expressed interest in backing startups that address loneliness, especially those that use AI to do so.Looking for the next generation of consumer techWhile some VC firms have soured on consumer investments, Patron is hyper-focused on the space.In 2024, Patron closed a $100 million fund and is investing in seed-stage consumer startups with $2 million to $5 million checks."We kind of look at this landscape of new consumer startups through the lens of gaming," Atherton said.Its cofounders, Brian Cho and Jason Yeh, were former executives at Riot Games, and Atherton worked at Discord after the company acquired her community software startup Zyper."How do you build a consumer product that people want to spend hundreds of thousands of hours in?" Atherton said. "Your identity is tied to it, you have fun there, and it's a place to hang out."In May, Atherton published a blog post that detailed four categories (including her "relationship OS" thesis) where she sees "breakout consumer businesses being built" — and where she believes a multibillion-dollar company could surface.Here are three other themes she's eyeing in consumer relationship tech:Community platforms that drive in-real-life (IRL) connection. "Platforms that leverage AI or augment human hosts to facilitate real-world connections around shared interests, events, or communities can counteract dating fatigue," Atherton wrote in her blog. She told BI that 222, an app that coordinates IRL activities with strangers, falls into this category, as well as Real Roots, an IRL app for women looking to make friends in their city.Consumer products for maintaining relationships. And that includes our relationships with ourselves, Atherton said. "A new class of apps will emerge that map and enrich our close ties," she wrote in the blog post, such as tools that help couples journal or long-distance friends keep in touch. Atherton cited Autograph, an AI-powered oral history platform for families, as an example.Shared experiences in the form of virtual rituals. "The next breakout platforms will make shared experiences feel tangible again," Atherton wrote. Patron invested in Arya, an AI-powered intimacy coach for couples, which Atherton said falls into this bucket. She also told BI that apps like Moonlight, a Tarot card app, are creating ritual and connection.Read the original article on Business Insider

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