How The Inner Circle is changing online dating

Tinder’s success has sparked a revolution in online dating, transforming it from a taboo, fringe-of-society activity to something that nearly everyone has dabbled with at some stage. However, for certain people there are certain disadvantages to the open door policy of most dating apps. It renders them ineffective, with too much choice actually becoming a negative thing. Online dating has arguably become a time consuming task full of misleading profiles. The Inner Circle, a new addition to the online dating scene, has a solution to this problem.

Instead of leaving it up to the user to filter through the sea of options out there, The Inner Circle does the work for you. All new users have their profiles reviewed by a team at the Inner Circle, who examine their working life, education, and social media profiles in order to judge whether they have a suitable profile for the app. The Inner Circle filters through its applicants and only admits those who fit the profile they and their users are looking for; ambitious, genuine professionals. This means you can browse the app happily, safe in the knowledge that the user pool has been narrowed down to the type of people you’re looking for, and they won’t have to deal with crowds of unsuitable timewasters. Founder and CEO David Vermeulen said in an interview with the British paper The Guardian: “I was single and on two different dating sites. But I didn’t like the way they were focused on quantity – I wanted to create one focused on quality for like-minded people. In the screening process we look for well-educated, well-travelled professionals”.

The Inner Circle has proven to be remarkably successful, with 90,000 members across Europe and more than 120,000 on its global waiting list. And unlike the typical gender imbalance present in most dating apps, the Inner Circle actually has more female than male users, comprising a whopping 60 percent of it’s UK user base.

Now Stockholmers will have the chance to get involved themselves, as the app is now available in the city. A bonus for The Inner Circle users is the service’s emphasis on real connections, which is why they organize members-only events every six weeks. For the busy among you who don’t have endless hours to spend browsing profiles on regular dating apps, this might just be the choice for you.

This article is presented in association with The Inner Circle.