[Exclusive Interview] Find Out How This AI-Powered Matchmaking Platform Is Disrupting This Traditional Industry

Recently, we interacted with Mr. Pawan Gupta, Co-founder and CEO Betterhalf, a revolution in the matrimony industry. It is here to break the old approach of matchmaking apps in India with its advanced compatibility algorithm powered by AI.

Here are the interview highlights:

1. What led to the inception of your company?

Pawan went to MIT Sloan for my MBA and had a chance to meet Rahul at MIT CSAIL during his Computer Science course. Pawan is a repeat founder and has bootstrapped a tech startup to profitability. Rahul is a tech entrepreneur with a background in ML/AI. While Pawan used many matchmaking products and had a frustrating experience going through the process, Rahul’s first engagement broke. In 2016, Rahul and I were talking about how difficult it was as corporate employees to find a partner with whom you’re in sync. Using traditional Indian methods such as through friends and relatives to find the right match didn’t work either. Then we pondered about making an app that works as a matchmaker for corporate employees without interference from relatives. Fast forward to 2016, we launched Betterhalf.

2. In layman’s terms, what does Betterhalf do? 

Betterhalf is India’s first and only matrimony app without the involvement of parents. We are the first and only marriage super app in India offering end-to-end matrimony and wedding products to urban Indians, who are the primary decision-makers for their marriage and wedding decisions, unlike their parents who were in the driver’s seat a decade ago. Betterhalf is India’s new-age matrimonial app It is the fastest-growing matrimony app in India, connecting hearts through AI technology on both iOS and Android for free. Betterhalf is a revolution in the matrimony industry. It is here to break the old approach of matchmaking apps in India with its advanced compatibility algorithm powered by AI.

3. What were the challenges in establishing the company, especially with respect to fundraising? 

We raised 8.5mn dollars in series A funding in March 2023. But at the end of 2022, we were negative on contribution margin and had a high burn rate compared to the revenue in early 2022. This took us a focused 6 months to keep increasing the revenue while continuing to scale down our marketing campaigns. By December 2022, we were able to demonstrate a contribution margin-positive company and with a path to EBIT-level profitability in 12 months. Doing this is often a boring process and requires persistence which generally is not an acceptable norm in a venture capital-funded company.

4. What is the current market scene in this sector? What sets your company apart from rivals?
Urban Indians are now the decision maker for their marriage needs from matrimony matchmaking to their wedding planning. Betterhalf is the one place for them in metro and Tier-1 cities of India where the market is heading, putting them in the driver’s seat, unlike their parents a decade ago. Betterhalf is India’s first and only marriage super app for urban Indians. We are a platform designed for brides and grooms who are in charge of their marriage decisions. We have built a horizontal product journey from matchmaking, verification, astrology, wedding planning, etc. Our product is used by over 1M users on a monthly basis and is live in 30 cities in India. Our competitors who are traditional matrimonial sites are focused on parents for the matchmaking product only and are largely governed by the sales and operations. Our long-term vision is to become “Amazon for Indian Weddings”.

5. What are your company’s plans for this year? 

This year we have set the goal of Series B funding as our platform hit $10m of annualized revenue in the next 16-18 months. We have also launched wedding services in Bangalore in 2022 so we will focus on expanding it. We are also focusing on the various new features launched on our app.

6. Any advice for young entrepreneurs looking to break into this sector?

My advice to young entrepreneurs is to pick the problem that you most relate to and merge it with your set of skills that you could be most positioned to win. Once you go for the long term, you can be in a position to understand the depths of the sector and have a strategic advantage. Always find the problem first, its root cause, and then focus on finding the best solution for it.