San Francisco-based Known is an AI-voice driving dating app founded by two Stanford dropouts. (Known )
SAN FRANCISCO - Two 22-year-old Stanford dropouts have raised more than $10 million on a quest to revolutionize online dating, eliminating the swiping model and using artificial intelligence to optimize the chance of striking a successful, real-life connection.
Celeste Amadon and Asher Allen are co-founders of the new dating app Known, which launched out of San Francisco in mid-February. The concept gets down to the basics, by starting out with a deep understanding of the app's users to determine compatibility.
On its website, Known challenges the way things have been done up to now, saying they don’t work.
"Profiles told us nothing. Swipes and likes became an endless dopamine chase. Small talk? Exhausting," the website states. "Known is different. Built on knowing you first, not rushing to a date. Not a game. Not a job. Not a gamble."
How it works
To accomplish its mission, there is no swiping or chatting involved. The app instead depends on the power of voice-based artificial intelligence, which is used from the get-go, as part of the onboarding process.
"You onboard to Known by doing a voice interview about who you are, what you're looking for, your values," Amadon explained. "You do an interview with the matchmaker within the app about who you are and what you're looking for."
She said there’s evidence that when people are responding to questions in a speaking format, rather than typing them out, they’re answering more freely and more authentically, and less apt to tailor and edit their responses.
This contributes to creating a more in-depth, accurate profile of a match-seeker.
The platform then uses those details to find one compatible match at a time, with each potential date presented to users with backed-up data.
"When we find a match for them, we actually explain why it’s the right fit," Amadon explained.
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In addition, users provide feedback, allowing the technology to improve and narrow in on their compatibility factors.
Users don’t share their profile photos until later in the process, after a rapport is established.
Once users are matched and agree to meet, Known sets up the date. (Known )
Date planning concierge
Once the parties agree to the match, Known moves forward to handle the logistics of the date like where they will meet and when.
Amadon said that extra step eliminates the "waiting and ghosting" often experienced on traditional dating apps.
Cost per confirmed date
The cost to be on the app is free, and users only pay a $15 charge when they commit to a match.
The charge, "which is about the price of a cocktail at a lot of SF bars," the co-founder said, is largely designed to try and prevent no-shows.
Growing user base
Amadon said since its launch, the interest in Known has been strong, with the platform growing in a short period of time. "We have thousands of users in the Bay Area in San Francisco," the co-founder said.
One metric to determine a dating app’s success is to look at how often matches turn into actual dates.
By the numbers:
"So far, our users have been saying yes to the dates 50% of the time," Amadon said.
With traditional apps, the chance of going on a date with a person you match with is roughly 1 in 30, she explained.
Known's model allows for a higher follow-through, reducing the drop-off or "ghosting" that often happens between the match-up and the actual face-to-face meeting.
‘Loneliness epidemic’
Dig deeper:
The company was built to help address what Amadon called a "loneliness epidemic," driven by technology, which has led to a dramatic decline in in-person interactions.
She pointed to online shopping, at-home streaming entertainment, as well as food delivery apps and YouTube exercise channels.
"All of those things have made our lives more convenient, but they've also increased the amount of time and activities that people do in solitude," Amadon said. "The average young person today spends 30% less time with other people across their lifetime than their parents did," she noted.
Traditional dating apps have not helped, according to Amadon, who said they’re designed to keep people on their screens, engaged in endless swiping, in an effort to boost ad revenue.
So Known has set out to help create intentional, real-world dates to replace the perpetual cycle of online browsing.
Stanford drop-outs Celeste Amadon and Asher Allen, both 22, launched AI-voice drive dating app Known in February 2026. (Known )
The backstory:
Amadon, who was an economics major at Stanford, and Allen, who was studying product design there, were both 21 when they started their company.
They’ve received funding from Bay Area-based venture capital firms including Forerunner Ventures, NFX, and Pair VC.
With AI permeating almost every aspect of life, using the technology in dating seems like a natural fit.
Last year, two University of California, Berkeley dropouts launched an AI-driven dating service known as Ditto which caters to college students.
Amadon said with Known's model of intentional dating at its center, the two products are very different.
And Known's target demographic is older. Users must be at least 21 to be on the app.
"Average user, it’s like a 27-year-old woman or man," Amadon explained, adding, "We cater to a pretty wide age demographic… from 21-year-olds, up to like people in their 40s."
Does not promote the hook-up model
The model of intentional dating is a core part of the service Known provides, as the company emphasized it hopes to attract users seeking real, meaningful connections.
"I think the part of it that is intentional dating, is you would only join Known if you're looking for a real relationship with somebody," Amadon said.
When asked about users who may be more about casual connections and hookups, "We don't serve people for that purpose," she said.
San Francisco focused
The app is currently limited to San Francisco, to simplify logistics when meeting face to face.
"We have some users who live in Oakland and work in San Francisco who are on the app, and we have people who live in the South Bay and work in San Francisco," Amadon said, noting, "Our focus is being able to schedule dates in the right location for people."
What's next:
The plan is to expand to Southern California sometime later this year and to continue to provide services in other locations as the company grows.
"Matchmaking is pretty dependent on location density," the co-founder noted.
Big picture view:
Known is using AI tech to try and create matches "with extreme accuracy," in its broader mission to address the loneliness epidemic brought on by an ever technologically entrenched society.
Long term, Amadon hopes Known's service will go beyond facilitating those seeking a romantic match.
"When I think about Known in 10 years, what I hope is that we're able to help people make relationships of all kinds, whether that's dating, friendship, networking," Amadon shared, adding that the goal is to make a greater impact on how we all connect.
"And if we can do that," the co-founder said, "hopefully we'll be accountable for hundreds of millions of marriages and children and wonderful things that make people's lives more meaningful and more complete."
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