They say that the perfect match is made in Heaven, well these days it’s made online
Words: Shalet James Images: Various Sources
Dating sites and apps are a dime a dozen, but what about options for someone who wants something more? Enter Aisle. On a daily basis, Able Joseph is overwhelmed by the sheer volume of ‘thank you notes’ he receives from the people who have found their perfect soulmate through his brainchild – Aisle. As the name suggests, this application aims at playing Cupid, bringing a refined community of like minded people together on a platform which stands somewhere between traditional matrimony websites and casual dating apps. In an exclusive chat with FWD Business, Able Joseph tells us what sets Aisle apart from all the other matchmaking apps in the digital space.
You played an instrumental role in scaling up the businesses of 3 e-commerce startups in Dubai. What made you opt for this shift in career and lead you to start Aisle.co?
It was really hard to get granular and meet someone who speaks your mother tongue and share similar interests. I signed up on matrimony sites where I scrolled through long lists of women, but most of the profiles that I came across were created by parents and you don’t really know if the person in the picture is indeed looking to be in a relationship or is being forced to. That’s when the idea of a like-minded hand-picked community came up, where everybody manages their own profiles and is looking for a sustainable relationship without the pressure of having to settle down.
Tell us about your vibrant team that works hard to connect people across the globe?
Launched on 14th July 2014, Aisle has connected the hearts and minds of over 34,000 of its hand-picked users from 63 countries.
The team includes – Nisha who is in charge of written content, Soumya who heads visual content, Jancy who creates videos, Mayank our lead engineer, Ishant our lead Android developer, Ajith who leads iOS development and my partner Bivin who is the director of user relations.
What were the challenges that you faced in the nascent stages of the app?
The biggest challenge was to create our own niche, a new product category under matchmaking, while competing with other platforms who’ve existed since the 80’s. We kick-started our journey with a super small team and little savings. We slept less and built a unique product, then promoted it with innovative strategies.
What were the innovative strategies you put forth for Aisle.co?
My experience has mostly been with marketing on digital platforms. Most of our efforts for scaling Aisle is also digital. Initially, we created a video called ‘Not All Indian Men are Alike,’ that kind of went viral and gave us the momentum we wanted. Since the product stood out, and women felt more comfortable on Aisle, it got easier to scale with time.
Aisle has a unique sign-in process, what has been the response over the years?
The unique registration process conditions our members to take the app and it’s members seriously. Somebody has to take the effort of filling out an application and pay Rs 2000 to get through to a person. We thought quality was more important than quantity in this business, rather than build another platform without a healthy gender balance. The reaction from women has been great from the start, but men were a bit hesitant to the experience. But now men too see the value in belonging to a singles community like Aisle.
In every business, investors play a major role. How have investors helped in taking Aisle to the next level?
We approach them every time there is a hurdle we are unable to overcome inspite of trying. To name a few, our investors include AnandChandrashekar, who is now working with Facebook Messenger, MekinMaheshwari the ex-CPO of Flipkart, Sanjay Mehta who has invested in more than 60 companies including OYO Rooms, Antony Thomas who is CIO at GE Global, Vinod Jose from Konglo Ventures, White Unicorn Ventures etc.
What are your future plans for Aisle?
Currently, we are optimizing our technology and working on other projects that can aid in boosting our parent company to be a leader in social interactions in India. One such effort is https://heeltheworld.co/. Heel the World is a fun networking app exclusively for the smart, strong and sassy women of today.
Can you share your secret to success?
(Laughs) Life’s experiences, I guess. We try not to create something that already exists. I believe creativity, respect and attention to detail can make anyone successful in life.
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