Matrimony.com's app for LGBTQIA+ hopes to offer safe, serious matchmaking

To register, govt ID a must; app also verifies user pictures to weed out fake profiles

When a young IT professional from Bengaluru complained to Matrimony.com, saying, “You serve the matchmaking needs of so many people in India, but when it comes to the LGBTQIA+ community, there is no serious platform,” its chief product officer, Saichithra Swaminathan, sensed an opportunity. 

Last month, roughly two years after that casual discussion, Matrimony.com launched RainbowLuv – a matchmaking and relationship app for the LGBTQIA+ community.

More than 45 gender identities and over 120 orientations are covered in this application, Arjun Bhatia, chief marketing officer (CMO), Matrimony.com, tells Business Standard. These include gay, lesbian, bisexual, transman or transwoman, intersex, and asexual.

But in a world of Tinder, Bumble, OKCupid, and several other dating applications, where homosexual individuals find their voice, how is RainbowLuv different? “Serious matchmaking,” says Bhatia, adding that this seriousness is ingrained in the product feature, too. 

“In our app, the first thing that you encounter while registering is the objective of why you are here – factors that are not just a person’s sex, but things like age, income, lifestyle, and location, among others. Dating apps don’t care about these things because they are more casual in nature,” Bhatia adds. 

There are some dating and social networking apps for the LGBT community, but none exclusively for matchmaking.

Safety and privacy are also key issues in the matchmaking and dating domain, and users have complained of fake profiles, leak of sensitive images, various kinds of swindle, to name a few. 

It’s too early to judge RanbowLuv’s performance on such issues, but Matrimony.com’s CMO says the app was built keeping these things in mind on the feedback they received from the LGBTQIA+ community. 

“We made certain things mandatory for registering on the app, like a government identity proof. None of the other apps, whether foreign or Indian, asks for this proof,” says Bhatia. “Secondly, there is no validation of pictures; so, many fake profiles are created.” 

The app does a selfie verification, where an artificial intelligence-machine learning (AI-ML) engine kicks in to detect whether the picture belongs to the user, says Bhatia. Even paid members don’t straightaway get access to other members’ contact details, he adds. There is a mobile verification, too. “These are some of the layers that have been added to the app to make it safer and more robust.” 

Corporate India has time and again invited criticism when it speaks up about LGBTQIA+ inclusion. One example is Dabur’s advertisement from last year that showed a same-sex couple celebrating Karva Chauth. The ad invited severe criticism from the conservative circles on social media and was ultimately taken down. How does Matrimony.com plan to navigate this tricky space without offending sensibilities?

There is also the legal side to the matter. While the Supreme Court decriminalised homosexuality four years ago, in September 2018, sex-sex marriage has not been legalised. 

Murugavel Janakiraman, chairman and managing director (CMD), Matrimony.com, says while “marriage has not been legalised, finding a life partner has been okayed. Different people have different needs. So, as a company, we wanted to be more inclusive and cater to all segments of the population”. 

Both Janakiraman and Bhatia say the feedback has been very positive since the platform was launched on September 6. There are three categories of membership -- three-month, six-month, and yearly. The package starts with Rs  2,999 for three months, Rs 4,399 for six months, and Rs 8,999 for a year. So far, more than 20,000 people have registered with the platform.   

“As a company, we are not doing anything wrong. We are a very strong, value-based organisation,” adds Janakiraman. “There are differences… (But) when you are sure of what you are doing, and your conscience is clear that you are not doing anything wrong, then you need to be ready to face the consequences.” 

The CMO also says the overall environment in India has become more inclusive in the last 7-8 years with regard to homosexuality. The abolishment of Section 377 to decriminalise homosexuality was, of course, a milestone moment.

“As we speak, there are hearings on legalising same-sex marriages. Even large corporations are encouraging their employees to come out and speak openly if they belong to the community,” says Bhatia. “There are sensitivity workshops, too, in many organisations so that there is no social discrimination. So, whether it is the public's or the government's mindset, it is moving in the right direction.” 

With RainbowLuv, Matrimony.com is currently not focusing on profitability and revenue. But it has sized up the potential.

“Our estimates found that anywhere from 10 million to 100 million-plus people belong to the LGBTQIA+ community in India,” says Bhatia, adding, “In any country, the marriageable age is typically early-20s to mid-30s, which forms around 30 per cent of the population. So, from that aspect, the number could be anywhere around 11 to 13 million. Our endeavour would be to get as many people as possible from that market size.”