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Candle
YC F24New York City, US · Founded 2025 · 2 employees · Hiring · 12 known investors
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Candle is a mobile app designed for couples that provides daily games, conversation prompts, date ideas, and shared memory storage to strengthen romantic relationships. The app serves couples of all distances seeking to deepen connection through regular interaction and shared experiences.
Also known as Encore AI Labs, Inc. · Candle - Couple Games & Photos · Encore · Encore AI Labs · Encore, Encore AI Labs, Encore, Candle - Couple Games & Photos · Candle · trycandle.app
Founders & leadership· Y Combinator alumni (F24)
Candle was founded in 2025 by Alex Ruber and Parth Chopra.
Investors · 12
How we know: the Y Combinator directory · open dataset · 5k.vc investor directory · Not right? Tell us
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How we know: Y Combinator's founder network · pioneerfund.vc · open dataset · 5k.vc investor directory · Not right? Tell us
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How we know: Valor Equity Partners's portfolio page · Not right? Tell us
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Company profile
researched Aug 2026Candle is a consumer mobile application positioned as a shared "home" for a romantic relationship, combining conversation prompts, games, planning tools and a private archive in a single product. Its core loop is a daily activity: mini games, deep questions and drawing challenges that both partners complete and then compare, intended to take roughly five minutes a day.
Beyond the daily prompts, the app includes weekly date ideas, a shared bucket list, and a private space for saving photos and memories. A second feature set targets partners who are physically apart: lock-screen widgets for sending love notes, photos and reminders, a live countdown to the next time the couple will be together, doodles, and a "thumb kiss" interaction. The company states the product is also used by friendships, not only romantic couples.
Business model
Consumer mobile app distributed through app stores, with a free entry point ("Free to start") and onboarding described as taking 60 seconds.
Traction
The website reports more than 1 million couples and friendships using the app and an average rating of 4.82 stars, with testimonials from users reporting daily use over periods of three to six months.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography
Market position
The company describes itself as the leading connection game globally and as a widely used relationship app, citing more than one million couples and friendships and a 4.82-star rating.
Bundles daily prompts and games, date ideas, a shared bucket list, memory storage, widgets, countdowns and doodles into one app rather than a single-purpose relationship tool, with an emphasis on a short daily ritual.
Technology
Mobile application with iOS-style lock-screen widgets, live countdowns, doodle and photo sharing, and a shared private storage space for memories.
Go-to-market
Direct-to-consumer app download driven by the company website, which features user testimonials and a free trial of the product.
Couples, including long-distance and married couples, as well as friendships; user testimonials span English, Spanish, French and Italian speakers.
Geography
Users cited on the company site are located in multiple countries and write in English, Spanish, French and Italian; testimonials reference Thailand and San Francisco.
Compiled by commissioned research from 1 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Related companies · 9
Companies working in the same space as Candle.
Legal entities · 1
corporate structureIn the news
▸Research sources · 1
primary sources listed
- Candletrycandle.app · web
1 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Candle do?
- Candle is a mobile app for couples offering daily games, questions, date ideas and a shared space for memories.
- Who founded Candle?
- Candle was founded by Alex Ruber, Parth Chopra in 2025.
- Who are Candle's investors?
- Candle's investors include Y Combinator, DG Daiwa Ventures, Pioneer, Progression, Raine, Valor Equity Partners, East Ventures, Goodwater Capital and 4 more.
- Where is Candle headquartered?
- Candle is headquartered in New York City, US.