TechCrunch May 22, 2014
‘Tinderfaces’ are in app vogue right now. By which I mean Tinder-esque ‘swipe to filter’ interfaces. ‘X app is the Tinder of Y’ has become the standard descriptive shorthand for this trend (named, of course, for dating app Tinder which popularized making snap aesthetic judgements swipe style). U.K. startup Mallzee is just one example of apps following in the gestural footsteps of Tinder. It’s applying a Tinderface to high street shopping decisions. Swipe right on the iOS app if you like the item, left if you don’t. Rinse; repeat. Disrupt NY 2014 alum Kwoller is another, doing a Tinderface for fashion price-tracking. There’s also Stylect, applying a swiping layer atop in-app shoe shopping. And indeed many more. (Stashd and Nuji are also doing similar Tinderfacey things.)
We covered Mallzee back in December soon after it launched its service, and the startup is now announcing its ‘Tinderface’ has helped it swipe in a seed round of £500,000 (~$845,000), with investors including Gareth Williams (CEO of Skyscanner), Par Equity, Scottish Investment Bank, Laurence Marlor (Rental Cars) and Rob Dobson (Actix).
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