If you’re single, and want the ease of a dating app to meet new people, but have been put off by bad experiences on apps like Tinder, then you’re in for some good news. This month Lumen was launched – the first ever app-only product specifically for over 50s. While over 50s dating sites exist, the app’s founders believed these weren’t targeting the active, youthful over 50s they knew, and so they have created an app specially for this demographic.
“The majority of single over-50s we know are tech-savvy, active, and looking for their next adventure. But this isn’t the reality we see reflected in the dating industry,” says Antoine Argouges, Lumen CEO. “Lumen finally provides a contemporary solution which over-50s can rely on to meet like-minded people”.
Safety is a key concern for a number of daters, and so Lumen have made sure every single user on their app is verified. When you sign up, the app asks you to take a selfie, which doesn’t appear on your dating profile, but which is compared to the photos which you use on your profile, to check they match. You can block and report other users if they aren’t behaving properly, and you can also notify the team if you believe someone’s profile isn’t honest – for example, if you know someone is married.
A focus on high quality conversations
Lumen also want to make the dating experience as high quality as possible, so every user on the app is required to upload at least three photographs to their profile. Every user has an About Me section, and is also asked what they are looking for. The app has a clear focus on quality conversations too. Every day you can start three new conversations, with three new people, so you think carefully about who you want to approach and how. Rather than just sending a boring ‘hi’, you have to send an icebreaker message which is at least 50 characters long. This means you can look at their profile and choose something interesting to strike up conversation about.
Co-founder Charly Lester explains “Over the years people have often asked me where their single parents should be dating, and I used to genuinely struggle to find an answer. In Lumen we have created a space which embodies the values of our over-50s audience, and built the type of community we would happily recommend to our friends’ parents.”
The app has received £3.5 million investment from Andrey Andreev, the dating titan behind Badoo and Bumble. Commenting on the investment, Andrey said “Do a search of the phrase ‘over 50s dating’. The results that come up are embarrassing for the industry. The over-50s have been mistreated by the dating sites for years. I’m excited to see the Lumen team launching an app which finally listens to this audience and specifically targets their issues and needs.’
Lumen is available to users in the UK and can be downloaded now, free of charge, from the App Store and Google Play Store.
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