Fundraising Fox
Hiki
Techstars '20Techstars '20Brooklyn, US · 7 employees on LinkedIn · 4 known investors
Find your way into Hiki
Each arrow is one introduction. Sign up to fill in the first one.
Ask Shakil Khan to introduce you to Jamil Karriem
You →Shakil · together at Student.com →Jamil
Sign up to find every way you can get introduced to Hiki
- Your email: who you already know at Hiki, and who your contacts know
- 2nd- and 3rd-degree connections: people you know who worked, studied or invested with the Hiki team
- Your LinkedIn: the connections who can make the intro for you
We rank every route by how warm it is, so you raise on warm intros instead of cold emails.
Hiki is a mobile app designed for autistic, ADHD, and neurodivergent individuals to find friendships and romantic relationships. The platform was built by and for neurodivergent adults.
Also known as Hiki App
Founders & leadership
Investors · 4
How we know: a partner's Signal profile · the VCSheet dataset · open dataset · 5k.vc investor directory · Not right? Tell us
How we know: Dangerous Ventures's portfolio page · the VCSheet dataset · Not right? Tell us
How we know: the Techstars portfolio · funding news · open dataset · Top 3000 Accelerator Startups (no YC) 2026-08 · open dataset · 5k.vc investor directory · Not right? Tell us
How we know: funding news · Not right? Tell us
Company profile
researched Sep 2026Hiki is a mobile friendship and dating application for adults who identify as Autistic, ADHD or otherwise neurodivergent. Available on iOS and Android, it lets members signal either romantic interest ('Heart') or platonic interest ('Smile') on individual sections of another member's profile, or pass ('X'), with passed profiles reappearing in the match queue after a few days and a 'Rewind' option to revisit the previous profile. Matching is dual-party consent: private chat opens only after both users have expressed interest, though all users may attach one custom first message to an outgoing request. Match preferences can be set by age, distance and gender, and users may indicate that they are seeking friendship only.
The company positions the product as a community space as well as a matching service, open to anyone who identifies as neurodivergent whether professionally diagnosed, self-identified or exploring the identity; no formal diagnosis is required and self-diagnosis is explicitly accepted. Membership is restricted to users aged 18 and over, and the service is described as LGBTQIA2S+ friendly. Safety mechanisms include ID verification intended to filter out scammers and underage users, in-app reporting and blocking from profiles and comments, daily administrator review for suspicious behavior, and a moderation team that can mute or issue temporary or permanent bans for violations of the community guidelines, membership agreement or terms of service. Users can delete their accounts and associated data from within the app settings.
Founding story
Founder and CEO Jamil Karriem, previously director of business development at the online real estate company Bungalow, was prompted to build the app after a conversation with his autistic cousin, who said he was lonely, found it difficult to make friends or find a girlfriend, and worried he might not have a family of his own. On finding no dating apps catering to the autistic community, Karriem and his team decided to build one themselves.
Business model
Hiki is free to join and monetizes through consumer subscriptions and in-app purchases rather than data sales. Hiki Premium provides perks such as unlimited profile rewinds and ID verification with a verified profile badge, while one-off purchases include 'Sparks' (a strong-interest signal attached to an initial match request) and 'Boosts' (temporary amplification of a profile's placement in other users' queues). The company states that it has never sold and will not sell user data, and that premium members and in-app purchases fund the app.
Consumer revenue from the Hiki Premium subscription, sold through the Apple App Store and Google Play, plus in-app purchases of Sparks and Boosts. The company states it does not sell user data.
Traction
The company publishes numerous member testimonials describing sustained use, including one member reporting nearly two years on the platform and multiple friendships formed. Support requests are typically answered within one to three business days.
No audited user or revenue figures are disclosed by the company.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Hiki operates in the online dating market, which press coverage at the time of launch cited as expected to be worth $12 billion by 2020, and is grouped with audience-specific dating services such as Christian Mingle, JDate and OurTime. Its distinguishing focus is the neurodivergent community and the inclusion of friendship alongside romance.
Hiki is built specifically for the neurodivergent community rather than serving it as a segment of a general dating app, and the company states that every stage from ideation through design and launch was carried out with and by neurodivergent adults, and that all team members are neurodivergent. It combines romantic and platonic matching in a single interface with distinct interest signals, accepts self-identification instead of requiring a formal diagnosis, and commits to not selling user data.
Technology
A consumer mobile application for iOS and Android with profile-level interest signalling, preference-based match queues, dual-consent private messaging, in-app purchase mechanics, ID verification for profile trust, and in-app reporting tools feeding a moderation workflow.
Go-to-market
Distribution is through the iOS App Store and Google Play with free sign-up, supported by the company's website, newsletter, and social channels on Instagram and TikTok, where it also announces job openings. Awareness efforts include press coverage and the #AutisticOutLoud collaboration with Getty Images, alongside published user testimonials.
Neurodivergent adults aged 18 and over, including autistic and ADHD people, whether professionally diagnosed, self-identified or exploring a neurodivergent identity, who are seeking friendship, romantic relationships or community.
Geography
The app is distributed through the Apple App Store and Google Play; matching includes a distance-based preference setting. Users describe forming both long-distance and nearby connections.
History
Hiki was founded in 2019 to help neurodivergent adults build friendships, romantic relationships and community, and launched its app the same year, with press coverage in July 2019 describing it as recently launched. The app has since expanded from its original framing around the autistic community to serve the Autistic, ADHD and wider neurodivergent community, adding subscription and in-app purchase features, ID verification and moderation systems. A user testimonial published on the company's site references nearly two years of continuous use, and the company has collaborated with Getty Images on the #AutisticOutLoud initiative addressing visual stereotypes of autistic people.
Risks & controversies
As an 18-and-over platform there is no mechanism for a parent or guardian to be linked to an individual's account, a point the founder addressed publicly at launch. The service depends on ID verification and manual moderation to manage scammers, underage sign-ups and community-guideline violations, and revenue depends on third-party app store billing, with subscriptions requiring separate cancellation through Apple or Google even after account deletion.
Compiled by commissioned research from 7 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 · 1
Companies working in the same space as Hiki.
Timeline · 2
launches, deals, and filingsYahoo Finance reported on the recently launched Hiki app, a dating and friendship app for individuals with autism, founded by Jamil Karriem after a conversation with his autistic cousin about loneliness.
Hiki and Getty Images teamed up on an initiative to combat visual stereotypes of the autistic community.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 7
primary sources listed
- Hikihikiapp.com · web
7 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Hiki do?
- Hiki is a mobile friendship and dating app for Autistic, ADHD and neurodivergent adults, built by a neurodivergent team.
- Who founded Hiki?
- Hiki was founded by Jamil Karriem.
- Who are Hiki's investors?
- Hiki's investors include Chaac Ventures, Dangerous Ventures, Techstars, Precursor Ventures.
- Where is Hiki headquartered?
- Hiki is headquartered in Brooklyn, US.