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PROFILE

Want to make new friends? Try this the next time you’re looking to make new connections.

Let’s meet Paired, a company that’s using a new format to help strangers interact and have fun together.

What is it?

Paired connects people who are opposites to play a live cooperative game together for a cash prize.

What was the inspiration?

We asked Founder, Kyle MacDonald what the inspiration was. This is his response:

“If you have spent any time reading comments on social media or under news articles, you'd be forgiven for thinking we don't like each other very much. Starting Paired, I assumed that the reality is everyone is willing to play a short game with someone different from them, and our differences are superficial.”

How did Kyle build this?

Kyle bootstrapped Paired as a solo founder. It launched in the U.S. and Canadian App Store in April 2024 after about a year of beta testing with test users that were eventually acquired through social media.

How is Paired doing you might ask?

Paired now has players in all 50 states and every province (and territory) in Canada with approximately 5000 registered players. It's free to play, games are short enough to play in the grocery store checkout line, and it's puzzles so it's simple enough for non-gamers to play. It has a large pool of potential players, so the future looks positive for player growth.

Some companies Kyle looks up to/recommends exploring:

Dapper Labs, Mino Games, PopReach.

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