Interview with Pawan Gupta, Co-founder and CEO of Betterhalf

Pawan Gupta

An Exclusive interview with Pawan Gupta Co-founder and CEO of Betterhalf, an AI-based matrimony application

Welcome to this exclusive interview with Pawan Gupta, the visionary Co-founder and CEO of Betterhalf, a groundbreaking AI-based matrimony application that has revolutionized the way people find their life partners.

Pawan’s entrepreneurial journey is one of passion, innovation, and a relentless pursuit of creating meaningful connections in the digital age.

As the driving force behind Betterhalf, he has leveraged cutting-edge artificial intelligence and advanced algorithms to bridge the gap between traditional matchmaking and modern technology, offering users a truly personalized and efficient platform to discover their perfect match.

In this interview, we delve into Pawan’s inspiration behind founding Betterhalf, the challenges he faced, and the future of AI in reshaping the landscape of matrimony.

Join us as we unravel the story behind this remarkable platform and gain insights from the mind behind the AI-powered magic of Betterhalf.

Can you share the inspiration behind starting Betterhalf, and how did the idea of an AI-based matrimony application come about?

Pawan Gupta: In 2016, Rahul and I were talking about how difficult it was as Urban Indians to find a partner with whom you’re in sync.

Using traditional Indian methods such as through friends and relatives to find the right match didn’t work either.

Then we pondered about making an app that works as a matchmaker for Urban Indians without interference from relatives or parents.

Fast forward to 2016, we launched Betterhalf. We founded Betterhalf with a very simple goal to help 100M Urban Indians get their right partner through mental and emotional compatibility rather than going through the traditional route. Now, the platform has evolved from 100,000 monthly average users (MAU) to 600,000 MAU.

What makes Betterhalf different from traditional matrimony platforms, and how does AI play a role in enhancing the user experience?

Pawan Gupta: Betterhalf takes the process of verifying the identity of users very seriously, doing a background check on the person’s social media accounts, including LinkedIn and Facebook, checking the authenticity of the phone number, email, and work email, and finally, verifying their government ID.

Users need to give basic details such as name, age, gender, and a few images for the onboarding. Post that, our single-click matching algorithm predicts their traits such as physical appearance, language, community, hobbies, and partner preferences, and shows a host of potential matches.

Betterhalf uses the power of AI to help people meet compatible matches and find their soulmates. By combining the power of AI and ML, we offer an AI-powered matrimonial platform and a safe space where people can find their life partner as per their preferences[, at their own pace. 

The concept of using AI in matrimony might be new to some users. How do you ensure transparency and build trust among your user base?

Pawan Gupta: Betterhalf uses the relationship data of couples worldwide and leverages AI to provide a combination of personalized experiences.

This includes a targeted subset of matches and a quick turnaround time to find the most suitable partners. 

We take the process of verifying the identity of users very seriously, doing a background check on the person’s social media accounts, including LinkedIn and Facebook, checking the authenticity of the phone number, email, and work email, and finally, verifying their government ID.

Users need to give basic details such as name, age, gender, and a few images for the onboarding. Post that, the AI predicts their traits such as physical appearance, language, hobbies, and partner preferences, and shows a host of potential matches.

Privacy and security are critical aspects of any matrimony platform. How does Betterhalf handle user data, and what measures are taken to safeguard user information?

Pawan Gupta: At Betterhalf, we take privacy as our top priority. It is the core of the way we have built the product so that anyone who chooses Betterhalf can fully trust us and render your focus on building meaningful connections in search of a life partner.

We promise not to compromise with our subscriber’s privacy. We have designed our product keeping their privacy in mind.

With the amalgamation of various experts in the fields of legal, security, engineering, and product design, we make sure that no decision related to your privacy is taken without your consent.

We strive to be transparent while processing your data. We understand that insufficient information and overly complicated language are common issues in companies’ privacy policies.

So, as a result, we have taken a different approach: we have formulated our Privacy Policy and other documentation in much simpler language; just to give you a better and clear picture of our practices.

We make sure your personal information is secure. We have allotted different teams to keep your data safe and secure. We constantly update our security to enhance the safety of your personal information. 

What are some of the challenges you faced while developing and implementing AI in the matrimony domain, and how did you overcome them?

Pawan Gupta: We were negative on contribution margin and had a high burn rate compared to the revenue in early 2022.

This took us a focused 6 months to keep increasing the revenue while continuing to scale down our marketing campaigns.

By December 2022, we were able to demonstrate a contribution margin-positive company with a path to EBIT-level profitability in 12 months.

Doing this is often a boring process and requires persistence which generally is not an acceptable norm in a venture capital-funded company. 

The matrimony market can be highly competitive. What marketing and growth strategies have been successful for Betterhalf in acquiring and retaining users?

Pawan Gupta: Urban Indians are now the decision maker for their marriage needs from matrimony matchmaking to their wedding planning.

Betterhalf is the one place for them in metro and Tier-1 cities of India where the market is heading, putting them in the driver’s seat, unlike their parents a decade ago.

Betterhalf is India’s first and only marriage super app for urban Indians. We are a platform designed for brides and grooms who are in charge of their marriage decisions.

We have built a horizontal product journey from matchmaking, verification, astrology, wedding planning, etc.

Our product is used by over 1M users on a monthly basis and is live in 30 cities in India. Our competitors who are traditional matrimonial sites are focused on parents for the matchmaking product only and are largely governed by the sales and operations. Our long-term vision is to become “Amazon for Indian Weddings”.

What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs who wish to venture into the AI and matrimony space?

Pawan Gupta: My advice to young entrepreneurs is to pick the problem that they most relate to and merge it with the skill sets that they could be most positioned to win.

Once you go for the long term, you can be in a position to understand the depths of the sector and have a strategic advantage.

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