Rivet Raises $10.5M to Build a Community-Driven Dating Network

Rivet is entering the dating market with a different product philosophy: instead of making dating a completely individual search, it turns other people into part of the matchmaking process.

Founded in 2025 by Taru Kapoor and Rajat Sahni, Rivet calls its model “Social Matching.” Users can participate as “Matchers,” reviewing potential pairs and recommending introductions they believe could work. When a pair receives a strong Social Matching score, both people are introduced and independently decide whether they want to connect.

The company has raised $10.5 million in seed funding, with Peak XV Partners, Shine Capital and Blume Ventures backing the round. The capital is intended to support product development, distribution and expansion across the U.S.

Rivet's founder Taru Kapoor brings substantial dating-industry experience. She previously spent nearly a decade at Tinder and Match Group, working across markets including the U.S., Europe and Asia.

The startup's core experiment is whether human recommendations can create a more social matchmaking loop than conventional swipe-based dating products. Its “give-to-get” model allows people who may not currently be dating to participate as Matchers and help other users discover potential connections.

Rivet has also established an office in Delhi NCR, with its engineering and machine-learning teams largely based in India, while the product is being scaled across the U.S. market.

The $10.5M round gives Rivet capital to test whether community participation can become a meaningful part of the dating-product experience at scale.