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Apprentice runner-up launches dating app following six-figure crowdfund

UK Apprentice runner-up and entrepreneur, Vana Koutsomitis, is launching her new dating app this Valentine’s Day in the wake of last year’s wildly successful crowdfunding campaign.

Her DatePlay app is hoping to bring a more playful outlook to online dating by matching users based on their answers to hundreds of Buzzfeed-style quiz questions, ranging from “Which is your favourite politician?” to “When did you last make the first move?”

Developed in partnership with a psychologist, the app’s questions are designed to capture aspects and shades of a user’s personality, building a user profile to help connect them with nearby people who share similar personality traits and preferences.

The launch of the app comes after the London-based startup closed a £210k crowdfunding drive on Seedrs last summer, smashing through its initial target of £120k.

Ahead of the launch Vana Koutsomitis, who finished runner-up in the 2015 series of the Apprentice and also holds an MBA from Oxford, commented: “The world is full of seriousness and stress at the moment, so we wanted to bring something light-hearted and fun to the market.

“During these intense times, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and stressed out. DatePlay is here to take the edge off. We want people to play on a daily basis to find love.”