Flutrr, a dating app based in Kolkata that supports six Indian languages, has raised Rs 2 crore in funding. Bollywood actress Huma Qureshi and angel investors like Sandeep Bhattacharya, former Global CMO of Hoechst and Merck, and Yogesh Mishra, Director of PayPal USA, are among the investors. With this latest investment, Flutrr’s total funding has reached approximately $750,000 (around Rs 6.5 crore).
Significant Backers
The app is also backed by media giant Times of India, The Chennai Angels, and top-level executives from Google, SAP, Microsoft, and DBS. “Huma’s investment propels us toward becoming a pan-India success story from Kolkata. We’re thrilled to welcome a strong woman like Huma to the Flutrr family,” said Kaushik, Co-Founder and CMO. Anirban, Co-Founder and CEO, added, “As a women-centric app, we couldn’t be more excited to have her on board.”
What Does Flutrr Do?
Flutrr is a dating app that supports six Indian languages: Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi, and Bengali. It aims to help non-English speakers in Tier II and Tier III cities connect meaningfully by using their native languages. This approach makes online dating more accessible to young Indians from small towns.
Changing Online Dating
India is the fifth-largest market for dating apps, with many young people from smaller towns using online dating. However, most dating apps operate mainly in English, making it hard for those who are not fluent in the language. Flutrr overcomes this barrier by offering its platform in major Indian languages. Kaushik Banerjee, Co-Founder and CEO of Flutrr, said, “Small-town India, or ‘Bharat’, has around 650 million youth who may not be fluent in English. With affordable internet access, Flutrr is leading the way by offering a dating app in major Indian languages.”
Features and Safety Measures
Flutrr is available for Android and iOS users and operates on a pay-per-use model with micro-transactions. Users can buy premium features like profile boosts and likes without a subscription. The app prioritizes user safety with face recognition, mobile number verification, private messaging, and a kill switch to delete chats. Video calls have a blur filter, and screenshots are disabled to protect privacy. Users can also hide their exact location with ‘ghost mode’. The ‘finderr’ feature lets users showcase content like Instagram or TikTok, and other features include love quotes, music, and gifting options to encourage engagement.
Is It Profitable?
Flutrr targets the growing online dating market in India, which is expected to reach $69.90 million in 2024. Currently, 72% of its users are from Tier II and smaller towns, with a match rate of 8.58%, much higher than the 2-3% match rate of English dating apps in India’s top 30 cities. The startup has over 400,000 active users and nearly 1 million downloads, generating monthly revenue of Rs 20-21 lakh. Flutrr aims to be profitable by the end of 2024 and plans to reach 5-6 million users within the next 12 months. It also plans to hire more tech staff in the coming year.
