Above video: Private school students are suffering from extreme privilege
Toffee dating functions much like Tinder and other dating apps, but with one significant caveat: users are required to list the name of the private school they attended in Australia, the UK or the US.
According to the app’s website, “We know people from similar backgrounds are more likely to stick together.”
Applicants are put through a “hybrid checking process” that uses “automated social media cross checks” and a “manual screening process” to make sure that no government-school educated people slip through.
Toffee has been available in the UK for over a year and boasts 30,000 monthly active users. For comparison, Tinder has 57 million users worldwide.
Its co-founder, former professional matchmaker Lydia Davis, told The Mirror last year that she didn’t understand the vitriol directed at the service.
It's not supposed to be snobby or divisive.
"It's just another niche dating app – there are lots of other dating apps for normal people. But there are also apps specifically targeted at smaller groups. There's one for finding a sugar daddy, one for Jewish daters.”
Speaking to 9Honey, Davis said that Australia was the first target for an international rollout due to the high percentage of privately-educated people.
"In the UK, eight per cent of people are privately educated but in Australia that number is around 35 per cent," Davis said.
"We felt that Australia would be the best place for us to roll out to first though as we were inundated with requests for us to launch there."
Hard yikes.
