Everyone looks forward to forming relationship/s and enjoying togetherness. People usually visit matrimonial sites when they want to get married and dating sites when they just want a partner. What about people who want more than a relationship but are not looking for a marriage? andwemet comes to the rescue of such people.
The brainchild of Shalini Singh, andwemet.com was launched early this year. It was started with a vision to provide a responsible and global platform to the urban Indians, 25 years and above to explore their choice of relationships. The site gives liberty to the people to decide the type of relationship they are interested in -- such as long term commitment (live in), companionship, undecided or marriage.
Singh aims to bring back trust in online dating, belief in relationships and reduce emotional heartburn. The entrepreneur has over 25 years of experience in the communications industry, having worked overseas and in India with leading PR agencies and MNCs.
Speaking about the inspiration behind the site, Singh says, “I’ve always been interested in relationships and things that revolve around it. When I used to meet my single friends or family members and suggest them to find a partner online, they always showed a lack of trust in online dating apps. It inspired me to come up with andwemet.com where there is complete transparency.”
Over 35,000 people signed up to the site, out of which only 15,000 were approved. Making sure the people on the platform are genuine, the profiles go through a human verification. Those who want to register should be urban Indians or people interested in the Indians based in any part of the world. In India, residents of Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad and Chandigarh have been most responsive.
andwemet registers the profile with your phone number, a step towards authenticity. “It takes you around 20 minutes to sign up. The site helps you to evaluate your thoughts and views before starting the search. Thus, it helps in weeding out wastage of emotions usually associated with online matchmaking. There are certain questions prepared by experts and counsellors which people need to answer in order to find their match. The site also provides the facility of creating your own questions before you start a real-time chat. The site is user-friendly,” says Singh, adding, “I am not planning to launch the app anytime soon. Instead, I am planning to introduce more features in the site itself.”
When asked why the site does not entertain people below the age of 25 years, she says, “Relationships are not easy. It is important to be mentally prepared when you enter a relationship, you should be aware of your expectations and needs. This understanding comes with age and maturity. So andwemet wants people to pair with the same level of understanding and maturity.”
“Besides looks and everything wonderful, people should focus on other practical aspects. Other platforms are focusing on the way you look. If relationships could survive only on looks, everybody would be in a relationship and no relation would break ever. After the age of 25, people start working and they are ready to share responsibilities with the other person,” Singh adds.
Comparing andwemet.com with other online dating and matrimonial sites, Singh says that there is a market for everyone. “Our target people are different. We focus on single people, divorced, widows, people who want a live-in relationship or an undecided relation. We do not believe in forcing marriage on to the people. There are many traditional sites which emphasise on caste, colour, gender, religion, property, earning and every possible aspect to find one perfect match. If these aspects matter to you, andwemet is not for you,” she makes it clear.
