BENGALURU: If playing Cupid for friends is becoming a task in a busy lifestyle, the GoGaga app might come to the rescue. Started by a brother-sister duo, Neha and Meet Kanodia, the friends of friends dating app, is here to make matchmaking more feasible. Neha was recently in New Delhi to receive an award for her contribution in the digital ground. “I won the award in disruption category (in dating markets). This award was given by She the People TV, powered by Google, for women who have taken their startups digital and made an impact,” says Neha, 36, who was earlier working with Goldman Sachs.
It all started when she was trying to find a match for her brother on the existing matrimonial sites. They found that most of the matches were nothing but blind dates arranged by their families. They were looking for someone who could vouch for the person, so that’s when the duo decided to come up with app.
According to a survey they conducted, seven out of 10 couples meet through their friends. “Traditionally, people have been making matches in their extended friend circles. We just decided to make it digital. GoGaga is similar to a house party online, where you meet friends of your friends,” says Neha, who developed the app all by herself. She started writing the codes in May 2017 and by April 2018, the app was ready. All data for GoGaga is taken from your Facebook account to get a list your friend circle. It is incubated by Indian Institute of Management, Bengaluru, and Facebook.
If you are not single and still want to explore the process, that is possible too, says Meet, 31, an IIT-Delhi alumnus. “If you are not looking for a match and want to be just the wingman, we can hide your profile but you will be active only to make the match. But you should be knowing both the persons you are bringing together,” he says.
Cupids weave magic
Prateek Khare and Surbhi met each other on GoGaga in 2018 through a mutual friend. “Both of us are alumni of Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee. Since we were from different departments, we never got to meet each other. The app acted like a platform for us to get connected through a person whom we could trust,” says Prateek, who got married to Surbhi in June 2019.
Divya Sharma, on the other hand, was exploring the app to find a match for herself but ended up playing wingwomen for her friends. “I am still single but I am glad that I could bring two like-minded people together,” says Sharma, who joined GoGaga in 2018 and is still active.