ST. LOUIS — Two friends who were tired of the traditional dating apps decided to create their own but with a St. Louis twist.

Instead of only swiping through profiles and messaging someone before meeting them like most traditional apps, the Approach Dating app is where singles can find other singles who are in their area and have the ability to meet each other while being out and about in the St. Louis area.

During the pandemic, co-founders Riley Foster and Allison Cousins were teaching virtually in St. Louis and decided it was time to put their idea for a different kind of dating app into fruition. They made early connections with some developers and began designing their vision in 2020.

“Learning what wireframes are and then building wireframes, and figuring out how do you create an app and then how do you transfer your vision to a developer,” Cousins said. “It just started with an idea and it started out of ‘let’s create a solution to our own problems.’ ”

After some hard work, the Approach Dating app launched in August of 2021.

“We really wanted to build out a product that was basically our vision in the direction of connecting people in person, and it had lots of iterations along the way,” Cousins said.

The app has a map that shows singles within a user’s area. Icons will appear on a radar and a user can then click on them to see someone else’s profile, according to Cousins. The radar does not show a person’s exact location for safety reasons.

Riley Foster, left, and Allison Cousins smile together with their Approach Dating app logo.

If a user is interested in someone, they can swipe right on their profile which sends a “nudge” to the other person. A nudge is a proposal to connect with someone in person at a local, partnered business, such as a bar, restaurant, coffee shop and more to have a first encounter.

The Approach Dating app is “kind of like reversing that stigma of meeting in person,” Cousins said.

To focus more on their growing business, Foster and Cousins have stopped teaching full time, however, they are involved in different ventures in education.

When they are not working their day jobs, Foster and Cousins are raising funds to build out the app’s premium version in addition to its free, basic version, as well as working to grow the app’s user density.

“We want to keep it very simple and user-friendly,” Cousins said. “One of the things that we both dislike around a lot of the other dating apps is they feel very spammy, and like pay for this and pay for that. And I think our vision is to make it very straightforward, user friendly, and very simple.”

Additionally, funding also is being raised for a new feature called ‘Approach Live’ that will allow people to connect in person while attending the same events. Foster and Cousins are piloting this idea to happen at sporting events such as Cardinals and Blues games.

“While you’re at a baseball game, you can see who is also at the game. You don’t have to actually set up a first date, you’re already there,” Cousins said. “

“You can have a first five-minute conversation to gauge that chemistry interest and then decide if you want to pursue that connection further outside of the game.

“We really want to build a reputation around authenticity and connection and understanding that this has the ability. This idea has the ability to facilitate immediate connections, but we want to make sure that we do that in a safe way.”

The other part of their business is hosting local singles events where professional and/or romantic connections can be made.

A singles event was hosted by Approach Dating at the Foundry.

“Somewhat changing the mindset around dating in that like any connection to make where you hit it off with somebody is a good one,” Cousins said.

“Everybody you connect with is not going to be your romantic partner for life but surrounding yourself with like-minded people and expanding your network can also benefit other aspects of your life in terms of your health and your professional network.”

After hosting some singles events, Foster and Cousins have made progress on diversifying them for a better balance of attendees.

“At the beginning, we had bad gender ratios and one thing that we’re trying to be really intentional about is being inclusive to people of all genders and all sexualities,” Foster said.

“But for the people who were coming, there was not a great match up for them and what they were looking for, so that’s been a big positive transition as we’ve figured out how to leverage different circles and advertising to get a better balance.”

Foster added it has been cool to see users provide feedback on where to host upcoming singles events and provide ideas on which St. Louis business to partner with next.

“We had a lot of positive feedback about the Foundry (event). It seemed like that environment where there was kind of a lot going on, so with the lower pressure, you could break off and walk and get food with someone and come back and then sit with someone else,” Foster said.

“It made for a very effective mingling environment.”

Cousins said they are looking forward to putting the Approach Dating app on the map, “but also staying true to St. Louis roots.”

“We appreciate people who have come along with us early and thanks for their patients as we get the bugs fixed and build out our new features,” Foster said.

For more information and to be notified on upcoming singles events, click here.