Female-Founded Video Calling Dating App Gleam Sells to FROME

Founder Lizz Warner, a former BuzzFeed video producer, has announced the sale of her dating app Gleam to another dating app company, FROME.

Warner recently spoke about her experiences starting and fundraising for a company as a nontechnical founder.

The producer (and dater) was once traveling outside of Los Angeles, and had wondered what would happen to her deeply unsatisfying online dating experience–swipe, match, watch conversation fizzle–if she matched with a woman instead of a man.

So, she set her interests to “Interested in Women.” A match came in, and–

“Oh my god, is this what dating women is like?” Warner thought.

The woman on the other end of the gigahertz had quickly suggested a possible place and time to meet.

“It was like….no effort,” Warner remembers wistfully.

Warner tells this story because, she says, many people go on dating apps like Bumble, Hinge, and Tinder for validation, not for actual dates. They might be needing an ego boost and/or be in a committed relationship. Texting on the dating apps had provided a foolproof means for men to semi-engage with her endlessly, without ever talking face to face.

This, she says, was a terrible experience for her as a single woman.

“I wanted to know if we vibed,” she said, referring to a feeling of comfort and positive energy with a dating app match. “I…