- Left Field, a new dating app, has launched in New York City.
- The app uses location-based notifications to facilitate real-life encounters.
- Left Field aims to use IRL events like parties to grow users, and expand to college campuses in May.
Another new dating app is hoping to appeal to users with swipe fatigue.
Left Field launched in New York City this week and is the latest startup trying to make inroads as industry heavyweights falter.
When Left Field’s founders, Samantha Martin and Kate Sieler, moved to New York after graduating from college, they were met with the same qualms that many daters have right now.
Martin told Business Insider that endless swiping, lack of organic interactions, and a barrage of paywalls are just some of the “dating pains” the two felt.
The two began building Left Field in 2024 and have since quit their jobs in finance and consulting after raising a family and friends funding round. Sean Miller, a founding engineer at fintech startup Apollo Card, joined Left Field as its technical cofounder in 2025. The app officially launched on the Apple App Store in February.
Here’s how Left Field works: The profile itself is similar to many dating apps (it has photos, biographical details, and some prompts). However, instead of swiping through a stack of nearby singles, the app will send push notifications of a potential match in the area if location services are enabled and a user crosses paths with someone on the app.
“We like to call ourselves the Pokémon Go of dating,” Martin said.
The idea is that Left Field is a more passive way to date, where you can toggle location services on and off.
“If you’re interested in meeting someone, you just turn on the app, and then you can close it and forget about it,” Sieler said.
It’s not the first dating app to try to capture the feeling of crossing paths with someone nearby.
Happn, a French dating app, launched a decade ago with a similar premise.
“Singles today are looking to bring back real-life encounters, like going to bars and restaurants,” Happn CEO Karima Ben Abdelmalek told BI last year.
As of now, Left Field does not incorporate any paid features.
Growing a dating app with IRL events
Like many new dating apps that have launched recently, Left Field is turning to social media to build an audience. It’s working with three comedy creators to make content across Instagram and TikTok.
It’s also taking a page from Tinder and Hinge’s playbook by throwing parties and focusing on college campuses.
Left Field plans to expand to several college campuses in May and introduce ambassador programs for college students.
In the meantime, to grow the app in New York, Left Field plans to partner with local groups and venues, such as running clubs, bars, and comedy clubs, and host singles dating events.
Left Field hosted its launch party on Thursday night at a crowded bar in Brooklyn, where I spoke with a handful of attendees about the state of dating. The general feeling at the event around dating — particularly in New York — was exhaustion with the apps.
Dating app giants like Bumble and Match Group have seen stock prices decline since reaching all-time highs in 2021.
“It’s the prime time to have a dating app startup because people are clearly so frustrated with the current offerings,” Martin said. “The Catch-22 is that simultaneously, people don’t like dating apps, but it’s also harder to meet in real life because people are dependent on them.”
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