A new dating app that dodges traditional conversation prompts and promotes mood boards is trying make waves in the capital.
The free London-based dating app Sonder launched in June 2025 and since the launch of the app the team behind Sonder have been hosting regular promotional events to attract users.
This includes a ‘performative man’ competition in Soho Square last week, with the day serving as a mocking celebration of men who inauthentically display progressive traits.
The app was created by Mehedi Hassan, 25, and Lenard Pratt, 25, who became friends whilst studying at Queen Mary’s university. Helen Sun, 26, later joined the team as primary designer and Hannah Kin, 24 joining later to handle social media and marketing co-ordination.
The main concept of Sonder is that users can design their own personal canvas which then matches them with other users based off similarities and joint interests found in their canvas. The algorithm does not rank users and seeks to be non-discriminatory, with no paid for subscription model.
On the visual element of creating a profile on Sonder, co-creator Mehedi Hassan said: “It’s like Pinterest and Myspace had a baby, it’s very old school.”
The canvas style of the app moves away from the traditional prompt and question style of popular dating apps like Hinge, Tinder and Bumble.
On this decision to not include dating-specific questions, Kin said: “All these prompts kind of prime and frame you to have the same conversations with different people.”
Hassan added: “Hinge feels like a common application, it’s almost if because you’re going through like so many questions answering stuff about yourself, what you’re looking for and it feels quite exhausting.”
Tired of traditional dating apps, the Sonder team added that their branding was based entirely on authenticity.
With the inspiration to create a dating app based off self-curated canvases coming to Hassan after he discovered date-me-docs in late 2023.
He added: “It was kind of cool how in detail people were like, willing to go into to show what they’re looking for, and also just like how vulnerable they were.”
The app also seeks to reward users who put genuine effort into curating a mood board, as more data allows the algorithm to work well.
Currently three out of four team members work full-time corporate jobs alongside their involvement in the app.
On hosting events like a recent UNO Night and the performative man competition, Lenard Pratt added: “It’s not just for dating, it’s for meeting people, forming genuine connections and building a community.”
The team shared that they will be expanding the app to go beyond dating, with a friendship mode being set to launch towards the end of October. The app is currently only available on the iOS app store.
Featured Image Credit: Aneela Aslam
