Zoe
Creating the World's Leading LBTQA+ Dating App
Zoe is a top-rated dating and social networking app by STRV built as a safe space for lesbian, bisexual and queer womxn. Used by ~10 million people, featured as Apple’s “App of the Day” and no stranger to the “Top 100 Apps” list.
Founded in 2017, Zoe’s excellent App Store rating comes from ~80k reviews. It’s in the Top 2 lesbian apps, with a coveted geographic mix of users mainly from the US and booming Asian markets. Our focus on safety features, clean design and progressive tech has more than doubled Zoe’s revenue every year.
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What we did
Boostrapped by STRV and now a part of our dating app portfolio under Cosmic Latte, Zoe is a success story crafted entirely by our in-house expertise.
— Design and development of Zoe iOS and Android apps
— Ongoing design, development and optimization
— Cross-departmental collaboration
Links
10M
Total number of users400K
Monthly active users (May '23)>5X
Revenue growth in 5 years$200K
Revenue per month (May '23)
Clean Design as an Edge
Well-balanced layout
Zoe’s design is its strongest differentiator from the competition, according to customer feedback. A recurrent review mention is the easy-to-navigate layout; profile set-up takes a few minutes, an intuitive dashboard keeps things organized and the spotlight always remains on the app’s core: exploring profiles to find a match. No wasting time on figuring out the right place to click.
Delightfully simple interface
Unlike other apps trying to do everything all at once, Zoe keeps its interface simple while continuously improving. Anticipating user needs, choosing interactions that make sense — like no-nonsense questionnaires and customizable options — over flashy features and fostering a natural sense of exploration are at Zoe’s core. All wrapped in visual aesthetics that blend into a memorable, vibrant love brand.
The UI is sleek, runs well and is very easy to navigate. My favorite part is that the line between free and premium features is drawn well, not restricting you too much unlike other apps.
Focus on Safety
In-chat mutual verification
Aside from the standard verification feature, Zoe is armed against fake profiles thanks to a unique addition that allows matched users to verify each other within the chat. On top of that, we’re consistently exploring and employing the newest tech to protect the Zoe community by being one step ahead of scammers at all times.
AI-driven content moderation
Inappropriate content is every dating app’s worst recurring nightmare, so we’ve taken safety precautions to new heights. Thanks to our sophisticated AI solution, we’ve reduced content moderation time by 95% while decreasing costs by almost 50%. Meaning that flagged content is removed drastically faster than on other dating apps out there, for a fraction of the price.
Reliable tech execution
99.5% crash free rate
Zoe refuses to crash, and that’s just how we like it. Our crash-free rate on iOS is far beyond the average thanks to diligent codebase maintenance, prompt bug identification and fixes by our QA analysts and engineers, and deep customer success involvement — a topic regularly discussed among the entire team to keep priorities aligned.
I was pleasantly surprised as I haven't had much luck with other apps. The ease of access is a huge plus as I'm disabled and have some trouble with basic app use (clicking, swiping, etc.) and as an unexpected bonus, this doesn't use up much space at all on my phone.
