
Candle helps couples and friends grow closer daily in just 5 minutes. Backed by @ycombinator (YC F24)
San Francisco, CA, USA
Joined October 2024
- Tweets454
- Following69
- Followers1K
- Likes1.6K
🔥
How these founders, while in YC, pivoted from a shopping app to build Candle, a consumer app that helps couples and friends grow closer. techcrunch.com/2025/09/24/th…
Candle retweeted
On Nov 15, we’re bringing the top 180 consumer founders/builders in the world to the YC office to build the next generation of great consumer apps.
1st place: a YC interview, plus an iPhone 18 Pro for every team member
2nd place: a MacBook Neo for every team member
3rd place: an Apple Watch for every team member
If you’re obsessed with consumer, this is for you!
Applications close Nov 13, so apply today below
We're bringing 180 builders to the YC office on Nov 15 to build the next great consumer mobile apps.
The winning team gets a YC interview + thousands of $ in prizes.
The Consumer Mobile Hackathon
Presented by Capy, @tryrevyl, @convex and @trycandleapp.
Apply by Nov 13 👇
Candle retweeted
We're bringing 180 builders to the YC office on Nov 15 to build the next great consumer mobile apps.
The winning team gets a YC interview + thousands of $ in prizes.
The Consumer Mobile Hackathon
Presented by Capy, @tryrevyl, @convex and @trycandleapp.
Apply by Nov 13 👇
Mascot dropped for my favourite consumers founders @parthematics @alex_ruber
Candle retweeted
workatastartup.com/jobs/9598…
candle's mission is to end loneliness.
a quick update, with a full time team of just 4, we've now grown to:
- 1.5m+ users
- $3.1m in annualized revenue
- $1.8m in arr
we need someone to scale our ugc creator program and paid social.
we're hiring a growth lead ($130k–$180k + equity, in person in sf):
in your application, include a link to your creator account on tiktok/ig, an account you've helped grow/coach, or a portfolio of growth programs you've led for consumer apps
thank you
this is day 426 of building @trycandleapp, a game to help friends and couples connect more
workatastartup.com/jobs/9598…
candle's mission is to end loneliness.
a quick update, with a full time team of just 4, we've now grown to:
- 1.5m+ users
- $3.1m in annualized revenue
- $1.8m in arr
we need someone to scale our ugc creator program and paid social.
we're hiring a growth lead ($130k–$180k + equity, in person in sf):
in your application, include a link to your creator account on tiktok/ig, an account you've helped grow/coach, or a portfolio of growth programs you've led for consumer apps
thank you
this is day 426 of building @trycandleapp, a game to help friends and couples connect more
day 424 of building @trycandleapp, a game to help friends and couples connect more,
it's been a while :) we've been heads down building a ton of new features, and we're super excited to finally start sharing them more
over the next week, we'll be launching 4 new features and doing a deep dive on each one. first up: thumbkiss
we redesigned one of your favorite features from the ground up. now with live dragging, a full screen surface area, better heartbeat haptics, and a smoother real time experience so you can thumbkiss your partner from 1000+ miles away
see if you can get to 100% overlap :)
pair with someone td
Candle retweeted
day 424 of building @trycandleapp, a game to help friends and couples connect more,
it's been a while :) we've been heads down building a ton of new features, and we're super excited to finally start sharing them more
over the next week, we'll be launching 4 new features and doing a deep dive on each one. first up: thumbkiss
we redesigned one of your favorite features from the ground up. now with live dragging, a full screen surface area, better heartbeat haptics, and a smoother real time experience so you can thumbkiss your partner from 1000+ miles away
see if you can get to 100% overlap :)
pair with someone td
Candle retweeted
day 403 of building @trycandleapp, a game to help friends and couples connect more made on candle :)
thank you to business insider for writing a story about us! if you're curious about our journey, check it out
pair with someone td
businessinsider.com/y-combin…
day 403 of building @trycandleapp, a game to help friends and couples connect more made on candle :)
thank you to business insider for writing a story about us! if you're curious about our journey, check it out
pair with someone td
businessinsider.com/y-combin…
Candle retweeted
day 402 of building @trycandleapp, a game to help friends and couples connect more
made on candle :)
pair with someone td and as always lmk if you have any feedback
day 402 of building @trycandleapp, a game to help friends and couples connect more
made on candle :)
pair with someone td and as always lmk if you have any feedback
Candle retweeted
day 401 of building @trycandleapp, a game to help friends and couples connect more :)
we’ve now crossed over $250k in revenue in the last 28 days, surpassing $3m + annualized rev while staying freemium
one of the hardest parts is balancing a fantastic free experience while also giving people a strong enough incentive to upgrade. ill give my take on this in a later tweet for anyone thinking of moving off a hard paywall.
really proud of the team and everything we’ve learned building this so far. we also have some awesome new features coming soon around memories that we’re really excited about, stay tuned :)
pair with someone td and as always lmk if you have any feedback
we’ve now made over $200k in the last month with no weeklies while staying freemium
depending on ur goal, scale your creator team and build 3 format lists, one for views, one for installs, and one for trial starts. we keep a library of the top 5–10 generally formats for each, update it monthly, and focus on iterating those. ~90% of all vids are iteration-based and 10% is completely new / experimentation based
this is day 386 of building @trycandleapp, a game to help friends and couples connect more. pair with someone td and as always lmk if you have any feedback
day 401 of building @trycandleapp, a game to help friends and couples connect more :)
we’ve now crossed over $250k in revenue in the last 28 days, surpassing $3m + annualized rev while staying freemium
one of the hardest parts is balancing a fantastic free experience while also giving people a strong enough incentive to upgrade. ill give my take on this in a later tweet for anyone thinking of moving off a hard paywall.
really proud of the team and everything we’ve learned building this so far. we also have some awesome new features coming soon around memories that we’re really excited about, stay tuned :)
pair with someone td and as always lmk if you have any feedback
we’ve now made over $200k in the last month with no weeklies while staying freemium
depending on ur goal, scale your creator team and build 3 format lists, one for views, one for installs, and one for trial starts. we keep a library of the top 5–10 generally formats for each, update it monthly, and focus on iterating those. ~90% of all vids are iteration-based and 10% is completely new / experimentation based
this is day 386 of building @trycandleapp, a game to help friends and couples connect more. pair with someone td and as always lmk if you have any feedback
Candle retweeted
day 400 of building @trycandleapp, a game to help friends and couples connect more :)
another fun format that’s been working pretty well for us recently with a solid install -> start trial conversion, 200k views, 1:10 like to view ratio
so hook is: “pov you decided to check the time but you have your gf’s status, distance, and wallpaper on your lockscreen”
starts with someone super excited from a side angle reaction shot checking their phone, then transitions into a super quick tutorial showing how to add the distance + time together/countdown widget to your lockscreen
show the value prop of y + how to do/setup y thing
pair with someone td
day 400 of building @trycandleapp, a game to help friends and couples connect more :)
another fun format that’s been working pretty well for us recently with a solid install -> start trial conversion, 200k views, 1:10 like to view ratio
so hook is: “pov you decided to check the time but you have your gf’s status, distance, and wallpaper on your lockscreen”
starts with someone super excited from a side angle reaction shot checking their phone, then transitions into a super quick tutorial showing how to add the distance + time together/countdown widget to your lockscreen
show the value prop of y + how to do/setup y thing
pair with someone td
Candle retweeted
shoutout @faionur for organizing! We had a great time at usv :)
this is day 399 of building @trycandleapp, a game to help couples and friends connect more
we have the most fun in nyc 🫶
incredible demo night at @usv yesterday
huge shout out to everyone who demoed:
@tylerangert
@kitakinluyi
@theesabina
@ndrewpignanelli
@alex_ruber & @parthematics
@liamjmcgregor
@jaredhecht
@arin_pantja & @olivewithatie
@y_earu
and thank you to everyone who showed up and packed the room!
shoutout @faionur for organizing! We had a great time at usv :)
this is day 399 of building @trycandleapp, a game to help couples and friends connect more
we have the most fun in nyc 🫶
incredible demo night at @usv yesterday
huge shout out to everyone who demoed:
@tylerangert
@kitakinluyi
@theesabina
@ndrewpignanelli
@alex_ruber & @parthematics
@liamjmcgregor
@jaredhecht
@arin_pantja & @olivewithatie
@y_earu
and thank you to everyone who showed up and packed the room!
Candle retweeted
day 398 of building @trycandleapp , a game to help friends and couples connect more
really excited to finally launch check ins today :) one of the most requested and long awaited features for candle, now built directly into our daily challenge flow
it’s a super lightweight, low pressure way to check in with your partner/friend once a month
one of the challenges here was figuring out how to provide people with a simple communication framework while still feeling lightweight, some reasons why we think this matters long term:
- small unresolved feelings don’t silently build into resentment over time, this is a huge reason people end up drifting apart/leaving
- relationships generally get stronger when people feel safe revisiting hard moments instead of avoiding them
- regular reflection helps people better understand how the other person thinks and experiences the relationship
download the latest update today, and as always we’d love any feedback
pair with someone td


























