Online dating is failing. This is great news for indie founders.

Online dating is failing.

Don't take my word for it. Let's take a look at the data:

This is the stock price history of Match Group, the company behind Tinder, Match(dot)Com, OkCupid, and Hinge.

Let's take a look at another graph:

This is the stock price history of Bumble Inc, the company behind Bumble.

Bumble has had a series of bad quarters. Same story for Match Group.

What's going on? Why are online dating companies shrinking?

People are getting out of online dating

• 79 percent of Gen Z are burned out by dating apps.

• The majority of college students don't use any dating apps (or use them infrequently as once a month).

• More than half of online daters reported their experience with online dating to be "very or somewhat negative," according to Pew Research.

• Many reporters have called on people to delete dating apps and find love offline.

Where are people finding love these days?

What seems to be rising as a "dating channel" for meeting new people are offline activities. Think running clubs, sewing circles, dance classes. Some try single mixers, speed dating parties, networking events, etc.

However, for many people, social events beat events with direct intent (like single mixers) simply because they don't want to appear desperate.

By "social events" I mean events where you're likely to find a lot of new people.

These are events where you could strike up conversations with strangers, and if you hit it off, arrange a meetup outside of the running club or dance class, etc.

Opportunities for indie founders

Online dating platforms lean themselves towards a winner-takes-all-scenario (or few-winners-take-all).

I don't think this will be the case with offline dating.

People want to meet offline, but they find the places or events to meet online: Most people probably found out about the run clubs in their city online.

Here are some ideas of what you could build, based on the "offline dating" trend:

• Local Event Discovery Platforms: Create a platform that curates and promotes local social events, focusing on activities where people can naturally meet and connect, such as dance classes, book clubs, or hiking groups. The key here is to highlight events that aren't specifically marketed as "singles" events but still provide opportunities for socializing.

• Niche Interest Communities: Develop online communities or apps that cater to specific hobbies or interests, where users can join groups and attend offline meetups. For example, a platform for cooking enthusiasts that organizes regular cooking classes,

• Event-Based Networking Tools: Build tools or apps that help people break the ice and connect during social events. These could be in the form of conversation prompts, scavenger hunts, or gamified networking challenges that encourage participants to engage with others.

• Skill Exchange Networks: Establish a network where people can meet through skill-sharing workshops or classes. For example, someone might teach a photography class, while another offers yoga sessions. These skill exchanges can naturally lead to friendships and more :)

• Gamified social experiences. You could create entire games that could be played offline, with the goal of people getting to know each other better.

• Volunteer matching : Develop software that connect people with local volunteering opportunities, fostering a sense of community, and allowing individuals to meet others with similar values.

• Co-living and co-working space management tools: Build software to help manage and facilitate social interactions in shared living and working environments, which are becoming increasingly popular among young professionals.

I hope you found these ideas useful.