Auntee, a matchmaking app founded by Zain Shaikh, is using voice interviews and AI-led compatibility analysis to connect users in the UAE, as the company prepares to raise $1.35 million in a pre-seed round and expand into other markets.
In an exclusive interview with Lana, Shaikh said he started Auntee after questioning the way dating apps ask users to make decisions based on photographs. “Dating apps have become extremely superficial. They ask you to decide whether someone is worth your time based on a photo, and almost nothing else” Shaikh said.
“I thought there had to be a better way: matching people on what they value, not just how they look.”
However, Shaikh revealed that Auntee began from a different product. “Auntee actually started as something else entirely. I’d built an AI that interviewed job candidates by voice and matched them with employers. At every event I demoed it, someone would ask, “Could you do this for dating?” After hearing it enough times, I felt like I had to build it,” he said.
Shaikh then launched a beta version of Auntee in January 2026, with the service receiving 350 sign-ups within three days. Following that response, he hired a team to develop the product. Auntee then launched in the UAE in July 2026.
“The response has been fantastic. And the best way to understand Auntee is to try it. The interview is free, so if you’re curious to see what an Auntee could do for you, download the app and give it a go,” he explained.
Auntee takes its name from matchmaking aunties
As for the name, Auntee comes from the role aunties have played in matchmaking across communities.
“A good auntie gets to know you: what you care about, the life you want, your ambitions. Then she introduces you to someone she thinks will genuinely suit you,” Shaikh said.
“That’s exactly what Auntee does. The difference is you’re no longer limited to the people your auntie happens to know.”
The company chose the UAE as its first market because of the country’s mix of residents and the number of people living away from family and community networks. Shaikh said this can remove the people who might otherwise make introductions between potential partners.
He also said many UAE residents come from cultures where matchmaking through an auntie or family contact is part of the process of meeting a partner.
But, how does Auntee really work?
The matchmaking process starts with a voice conversation lasting between 15 and 20 minutes. During the interview, Auntee asks users about their values, day-to-day lives, relationship goals and what they want in a partner. The system then builds a profile from the answers.
Matching takes place in two stages. The first stage covers non-negotiables. Auntee considers a match only when both users meet each other’s requirements. These requirements include what each person is looking for, age range, faith, children, smoking, drinking and distance.
The second stage looks at compatibility across 14 dimensions. These are split across four areas: vision and values, lifestyle, foundations and spark. Shaikh said factors linked to relationships over time are given more weight in the matching process.
Auntee makes an introduction when its system identifies a fit and provides both users with an explanation of why the match was made.
The 14 compatibility dimensions used by Auntee
Under vision and values, Auntee assesses life vision and money. Life vision covers where each user wants to be in five years, including family, home and career. Money covers how each person approaches spending and saving.
Under lifestyle, Auntee looks at energy, work-life balance, drive, openness, social needs and daily rhythm. Energy measures how busy and active each person wants life to be. Work-life balance looks at how much of a person’s life is taken up by work.
Drive examines whether a user wants a career they are passionate about or places more emphasis on balance. Openness looks at a user’s appetite for new experiences, while social needs cover the balance between time with other people and time alone to recharge.
Daily rhythm considers whether someone is an early bird or a night owl. Under foundations, Auntee assesses faith, conflict and closeness, and family. Faith looks at beliefs and how much faith shapes daily life.
Conflict and closeness examine how each person handles disagreement and intimacy. Family looks at how closely involved a person’s family is in their life.
Under spark, the system assesses shared interests, relationship style and love language. Shared interests cover activities and interests users have in common.
Relationship style looks at the kind of partnership each person pictures. Love language examines how each user gives and receives care.
Auntee replaces swiping with introductions
Auntee’s model does not begin with users swiping through photographs. Instead, users complete the voice interview before receiving introductions based on the information they provide.
Both people receive an introduction at the same time and each has 48 hours to decide whether to proceed. If both choose to match, a feature called Wing Auntee supports the conversation with conversation starters and help with the exchange that follows.
“We’ve now made more than 700 introductions, and the response has been fantastic. Of the 500-plus people who’ve rated their experience in the app, the average score is 4.5 out of 5, and 98 per cent said they’d recommend Auntee. The interview is the part people talk about most. Many tell us it helped them understand things about themselves they hadn’t put into words before,” Shaikh said.
More than 70 introductions have developed into conversations, according to Auntee. The company does not yet track what happens after users meet offline, meaning it does not currently have figures showing how many introductions have led to dates or relationships.
Shaikh said measurement of dates and relationships is one of the areas the company plans to build. The team is also continuing work on its matchmaking algorithm with the aim of improving match quality.
What are Auntee’s privacy rules though?
Shaikh said privacy plays a central role because users may disclose information during matchmaking that they would not include in a public profile.
“Auntee things they wouldn’t put in a profile. We’re a UK-registered company, so we follow UK data protection law. Conversations are used only to build your profile and find your matches. We never sell personal data and never share it with advertisers. Other users only see your profile, never your conversation with Auntee. You can delete your account and your data at any time from within the app,” Shaikh said.
Shaikh said one of the questions before launch was whether people from cultures without a tradition of matchmakers would understand the concept. He said the idea has also attracted users outside communities in the Arab world, Asia and Africa.
“It turns out almost everyone knows someone who’s always trying to set them up,” he said.
Auntee seeks $1.35m million as it plans expansion and events
Auntee plans to continue growing its user base in the UAE while preparing to enter other countries. The company is raising a $1.35 million pre-seed round, which it expects to close in November 2026.
Shaikh said the funding will support expansion into other markets. Auntee also plans to launch in-person matchmaking events in the coming weeks.
The events will bring users together face to face, reflecting the form of matchmaking that inspired the company’s name, he concluded.
