Five pivots and more than a dozen shelved experiments later, two Y Combinator founders settled on one deceptively simple idea that’s now powering them up: Candle, an app for couples and close friends that reeled in 300,000 users and a seven‑figure annual run rate only six months after launch.
Made by Alex Ruber (formerly of Apple) and Parth Chopra (Asana, Twitter), Candle emerged from a messy winter of explosive testing.
The startup before that — a conversational AI shopping tool which earned them a $2 million seed round — had clever technology but wobbly unit economics. The amount of pressure to find something that worked, when they were doing it together and putting so much strain on their relationship with each other, became the catalyst for a new kind of “small circle” social.
From pivot hell to a breakout idea that finally stuck
The team brainstormed ideas ranging from fashion to sports before focusing on a simple prototype: a swipeable deck of prompts to prompt deeper conversations with partners. An intern who became a marketing lead uploaded a TikTok that unexpectedly went viral in Europe, sending the founders scrambling to fast‑track onboarding, content and notifications to keep up with demand.
Momentum followed. Candle rocketed into Apple’s App Store top 25 multiple times, the company said, and retained a surprising percentage of new users. Early feedback helped foster a product that’s intentionally low-stakes: answering one question each day, comparing answers with your partner or best friend or really anyone who wants to join you, exchanging an image, and holding onto a streak.
A small circle social network, not another feed
Candle’s wager is that social at scale is evolving away from public broadcasts in favor of tools that make it easy for people to reliably connect with a few close relationships. That thesis reflects larger cultural cues. The U.S. Surgeon General has raised the alarm about an epidemic of loneliness, and researchers at Pew have tracked how younger users are hungry for more intimate digital spaces among the broader platforms.
Half a year in, Candle reports 300,000 total users, with about 150,000 couples taking part. Monthly actives exceed 250,000, and the DAU/MAU “stickiness” rises to close to 50%. That is far higher than the median for typical consumer apps quoted in data collected by data.ai across the mobile industry, and suggests daily-habit potential. The app’s currency — “sparks” you earn for checking in regularly — adds a light gamification layer without steering the product into grindy territory.
The gap is narrow on purpose. Candle makes no promises of new connections; it’s about upping the ante on existing ones with speed prompts, mini-games and shared photo moments. That clarity leaves it less susceptible to the content moderation and cold-start problems that plague open networks.
Monetizing early — and what that means for growth
Uncommon in the consumer social industry, Candle began charging while it was still on its first growth spurt. A free, freemium model offers daily prompts and key features at no cost; premium layers add expanded content and more. Monthly revenue recently passed $150,000, which suggests an annual run rate of over a million dollars.
Early monetization can be a warning sign if it hides low engagement, but in this case it seems to tighten product‑market fit. Paid users paying for additional connection requests and premium features provide a cleaner signal than ad engagement in a category where trust and intimacy are key. It also fits into a broader set of market data: Sensor Tower has observed ongoing increases in consumer subscription spend among lifestyle and relationship apps, even as the overall ad market ebbs and flows.
A creator-led distribution engine powering growth
Candle’s growth playbook relies on TikTok and Instagram creators, not costly performance marketing. The first viral moment was a fortuitous video; since then, the company has doubled down on creator partnerships and user‑generated content featuring daily check-ins and streaks. That model reduces acquisition costs and builds trust — vital when the product exists in private group messages, not public feeds.
The issue, as with any fast-growing social app, is sustainability. A lot of breakout products go up in a straight line at first, and then plateau as the novelty wears off. The roadmap from CEO Ruber and CTO Chopra is about depth without bloat: more “connection types” beyond text prompts, thoughtful ways to earn sparks for various interactions, and richer shared rituals that don’t violate the app’s simplicity.
Cash and runway, and execution discipline
The founders’ previous seed round, led by Goodwater Capital with participation from Pioneer Fund, Progression Fund and Y Combinator, today fuels Candle’s ability to hire and iterate quickly. Anticipate more engineers, tighter content ops and rigorous A/B testing when it comes to notifications, pacing and retention mechanics. The “pivot hell” era’s lean‑startup muscle the team developed gives them an advantage now: ship fast, learn fast, weigh toward data versus intuition.
Privacy will stay central. As Candle will be used for intimate conversations, the company’s stance on data minimization, secure storage, and transparent policies will all be under careful examination. In consumer social, trust grows just as quickly as growth — or eats it away.
Why this one may stick beyond the early hype curve
The consumer social winners frequently solve one focused job to be done and then gain permission to expand. Candle has a clear job: help people feel connected to their most important person in minutes a day. The app, with its strong stickiness, creator‑fueled distribution, and early revenue that validates willingness to pay, has gotten past the first few big hurdles. The next test is whether time can beat back algorithmic feeds with 12‑, 24‑ and 36‑month retention curves that demonstrate that everyday intimacy is possible even if algorithms are delivering the news.
For the moment, the lesson is broader. Five pivots wasn’t flailing — it was search. By narrowing the problem, shipping maniacally and allowing users to pull the product along, these YC founders have turned a relationship sleepiness point into a real live business.
