About Bondly
Made for the ones
who nearly gave up.
Bondly started because dating apps stopped being about dating.
The best-designed products in tech now optimize for engagement, not outcomes. That works for social media. It’s a disaster for finding a partner. If everyone you meet is one swipe away from being replaced, no one gets to be irreplaceable.
So we made something smaller. A private club where every member is verified. Where every event has a real gender ratio. Where you can’t swipe forever, because there are only twelve seats at Sunday supper — and one of them has your name on it.
How we run
— Small on purpose
Every event is capped. Every trip is a small group. When we can’t give a night the attention it deserves, we don’t run it.
— Verified members only
Identity, education, and occupation are checked before anyone joins. Higher tiers add assets and background. The badge means something because we do the work.
— No dark patterns
We don’t hide who has liked you. We don’t sell you visibility. We don’t charge to see who you’ve matched with. What’s free stays free.
— Refunds, always
Full refunds up to 48 hours before any event. If we do our job, you won’t want one.
Who’s behind it
Bondly is founded by Tony Lu. Before this, Tony worked on operations and product for a matchmaking service that introduced hundreds of couples in China’s tier-one cities, and then moved to the Bay Area to see whether the same care could scale to the diaspora.
What we learned from that first business, in one line: you can’t automate the thing that matters. But you can build the tools so a small team can do it with more taste, and for more people, than one matchmaker ever could.
— That’s Bondly.