Justin McLeod speaks during the Fast Company Innovation Festival 2025 on Sept. 18, 2025 in New York City.
Eugene Gologursky | Getty Images
Hinge founder Justin McLeod is stepping down as CEO of the dating app to launch a new AI‑driven dating service.
McLeod will be succeeded by Jackie Jantos, who currently serves as Hinge’s president and chief marketing officer. The transition was announced by Hinge’s parent company, Match Group, on Tuesday.
“The company’s momentum, including being on track to reach $1 billion in revenue by 2027, gives me full confidence in where Hinge is headed,” McLeod said in a statement. He founded the app in 2011.
McLeod will stay on as an advisor to Hinge through March. His new venture, Overtone, will use artificial intelligence and voice‑enabled tools to help people connect in a more thoughtful and personal way.
Over the past year, McLeod and his team have been building the startup with backing from Match Group, which plans to lead Overtone’s initial funding round in early 2026.
Match Group, which also owns Tinder and several other dating platforms, will retain a significant equity stake in Overtone. Match Group CEO Spencer Rascoff will join Overtone’s board of directors.
“We’re proud to have incubated Overtone within Hinge and to now lead its funding round as he builds his next venture,” Rascoff said.
Strategic implications for Match Group
The leadership change at Hinge comes at a time when Match Group is actively diversifying its portfolio beyond traditional swipe‑based models. By supporting Overtone, the conglomerate is hedging against potential disruptions from generative AI that could reshape how users discover and interact with potential partners.
Financial analysts project that AI‑enhanced matchmaking could lift average revenue per user (ARPU) by 15‑20% within three years, as premium subscription tiers and in‑app purchases become more personalized. The $1 billion revenue target for Hinge by 2027 therefore appears attainable, provided the AI rollout delivers measurable improvement in match quality and user retention.
AI and voice technology as a differentiator
Overtone’s focus on voice‑based interactions taps into a growing consumer appetite for more natural, conversational interfaces. Voice biometrics and sentiment analysis can enrich profile data far beyond static text, enabling algorithms to surface matches based on tone, emotional cues, and communication style.
From a technical standpoint, the venture will likely lean on large language models (LLMs) fine‑tuned on anonymized dating‑app conversations, coupled with real‑time speech‑to‑text pipelines. Ensuring privacy and compliance with regulations such as GDPR and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) will be a critical engineering challenge.
Competitive landscape
While several startups are experimenting with AI‑mediated dating, Overtone’s backing by Match Group gives it a distinct advantage in data access, scale, and brand credibility. Competitors will need to either partner with large operators or develop proprietary datasets to achieve comparable matching accuracy.
Moreover, the integration of Overtone’s technology into Hinge’s existing ecosystem could create a seamless upgrade path for current users, reducing churn and accelerating adoption of premium features.
Investor outlook
Given the nascent stage of AI‑driven dating services, early‑stage investors are likely to view Overtone as a high‑risk, high‑reward opportunity. Match Group’s decision to lead the seed round signals confidence in the venture’s strategic fit and technological roadmap. If Overtone can demonstrate measurable improvements in match success rates and user engagement, it could become a template for AI integration across Match Group’s broader portfolio.
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