How TrulyMadly Took on Tinder & Built a 100 Crore Dating App in India | Snehil Khanor - E57 Part II

In this episode, we sit down with the founder of TrulyMadly, India's most trusted dating app, to explore the startup journey, fundraising pitfalls, growth hacks, and how TrulyMadly is solving the trust problem in Indian online dating.

We dive deep into:

- Competing with global giants like Tinder and Bumble.

- How compatibility scores and trust-based algorithms changed the game.

- The dark side of fake profiles and how TrulyMadly tackled it.

- Fundraising regrets and the decision to stay profitable.

- Building a brand people actually trust in a highly sensitive market.

Whether you’re a founder, product builder, or just curious about the business of love.This episode is packed with insights. Watch the full episode on @FundsAndFounders

Timestamps:

00:00 - Intro

01:23 - The European backpacking trip that changed everything

03:39 - Early career: From payments to dating

06:35 - Building a product for Indian singles

09:03 - How TrulyMadly started

12:10 - Solving the dating trust problem in India

15:12 - TrulyMadly vs Tinder: What makes us different

17:30 - Revenue vs Users: The real startup pivot

20:02 - Fundraising mistakes & hard lessons

22:25 - Branding, logo, and product-market fit

25:47 - Compatibility scoring & TrulyMadly algorithm

28:10 - Marriage success stories from TrulyMadly

30:17 - Why TrulyMadly charges users (and why it works)

33:50 - Dealing with fake reviews and app store ratings

36:04 - The importance of frugal innovation

39:00 - Final thoughts, rapid fire & what’s next