It can be difficult for single cat lovers to find human love, with a 2016 study finding that 30% of cat owners were single as opposed to 24% of dog owners. However, one trio of determined entrepreneurs aimed to solve this stigma with an innovative and specific dating app: Tabby. The service functions similarly to other dating apps, with the twist being that users’ profiles will contain information about both themselves and their feline friends. Along with being able to judge how good a match you might be, the app also features a community section and suggests cat-centric date ideas.
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Co-founders Leigh D’Angelo, Sterling Davis, and Nathan Kehn got the chance to pitch their idea on Season 13 Episode 4 of “Shark Tank,” where they sought an investment of $300,000 for 20% equity. The trio, alongside a pair of cuddly kittens, were experiencing difficulty with the platform they were previously on and were in active development on a new version of the app while seeking a larger audience. Kevin O’Leary saw potential for the idea and proposed to give them the $300,000 for 30%, which the team eventually accepted.
Tabby acts as a spin-off of the dog-centric dating app, Dig, which both D’Angelo and her sister Casey developed in 2017. The two found success with the app for some time and demand from cat owners began to spring up as a result. D’Angelo, alongside cat-centric social media influencers Davis and Kehn, would receive a $50,000 grant from the Million Dollar Dating Project to develop the app, with it eventually launching in August 2020 on International Cat Day.
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What happened to The Tabby Dating App on Shark Tank?
Entreprenuers Leigh D’Angelo, Sterling Davis, and Nathan Kehn appeared on “Shark Tank” with the hopes of bringing home $300,000 for a 20% equity stake in Tabby. The team brought in a pair of kittens while describing the difficulty that cat owners have in finding matches on traditional dating apps. D’Angelo shared that there are 17 million single cat owners in the US due to this stigma.
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The app had 31,000 users and was bringing in $43,000 in revenue. Subscriptions were making up $17,000 of this revenue while $25,000 came from their first integrated partner. Subscribers paid $19.99 a month which some of the sharks thought was too expensive for a startup, although D’Angelo assured them it was in-line with other dating services. They were facing challenges regarding the app’s current platform as it did not work well on mobile devices and their contracts were terminated shortly before appearing on the show. The team was putting most of their time and resources into developing a new mobile-friendly version of the app from the ground up.
Many of the sharks believed that the app would struggle to compete against other more established dating apps. Kevin O’Leary was the only one to make an offer, given that a prior investment of his, the pet health company BasePaws, could aid in growth. He offered the $300,000 but wanted a 30% stake. After an attempt to renegotiate, they take the deal, recognizing the benefit of tapping into his database of cat owners.
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The Tabby Dating App after Shark Tank
Tabby’s “Shark Tank” episode aired on October 29, 2021. Fan reactions varied in regards to the company’s viability. In a Reddit discussion about the segment posted shortly after the broadcast, u/MankAndInd shared their opinion, believing that the stigma around cat-owning men isn’t strong enough to justify such a service, stating, “What is the real market size for this? … by the time the woman is coming over to his house, there probably is strong chemistry and sparks, so the cat would likely have zero negative effect … ” Others such as u/notatext believed that the app would serve a great function to pet owners, commenting that, “Having to weed out all the people who loathe cats/are allergic/don’t see pets as family is exhausting, and if you can skip all that noise, so much the better.”
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Regardless, things seemed to be going decently well for Tabby following the show. Founder Leigh D’Angelo shared that the app was receiving more attention, although it’s unknown exactly how many new subscribers joined the service. Tabby went on to receive some surprising celebrity endorsements from the likes of Ryan Seacrest and Drew Barrymore while D’Angelo was included in the 2022 Global Dating Insights Power Book as one of the most influential leaders in the world of online dating.
Why did The Tabby Dating App go out of business?
Despite its best efforts, Tabby came to an end in December 2022. Tabby’s Instagram has not been updated since February of that year, and in August, a post was shared on the account of its sister company Dig, which read, “It has been a roller coaster ride for the past 6 years, and we can not thank each of you enough for believing in our dream. It is with great sadness and a lot of tears that we will be closing our business. On a positive note, it has been a joy and we could not be happier for the many couples who matched on Dig and Tabby. May they have a long-lasting loving relationship with each other and their beloved animals!”
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Today, outside of its defunct Instagram account, you’ll find little else remaining of Tabby’s existence. Its website, Facebook, and X accounts have all shut down, and the app itself is no longer available on either the iOS App Store or Google Play. Reportedly, reviews of the app were largely negative due to its many bugs and errors. One of the biggest hurdles the team was trying to overcome when on “Shark Tank” was developing a more mobile-friendly app. Sadly, it appears that they were never able to fully solve the issue. Whether due to this, heavy competition with other dating apps, or a combination of these factors, Tabby failed to land on its feet. This isn’t too uncommon for such “Shark Tank” businesses, however, as other pet-centric companies such as iCPooch and G.O.A.T. Bluetooth Pet Speakers struggling to stay relevant after their time in the limelight.
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What’s next for The Tabby Dating App founders?
The team behind Tabby certainly put in an admirable effort, with ambitions to expand into other pet-owning niches. Sadly, it seems that many of the sharks’ worries came to fruition. Getting Tabby to a place where it could stand toe-to-toe with some of the biggest dating apps on the market such as Tinder or Hinge would be an astronomical feat for any company to accomplish. It’s safe to say that the Tabby team had a solid idea and good intent, but at the end of the day their niche was perhaps not prominent enough to make an impact in this space.
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Leigh D’Angelo went down some unique directions since the end of Tabby. Between October 2020 and June 2023, she worked in various positions for NASA as a web content producer, where she worked to improve user experience on its website to help increase traffic while also acting as a news anchor for various NASA TV programs. It’s far from her first time in this space, however, as D’Angelo’s LinkedIn shows that she’s been in reporting and anchor positions since 2008. Since June 2023, she has worked at Modern Hydrogen, a Washington-based renewable energy equipment manufacturer. Her roles have primarily been in communications and marketing, currently working as the Senior Manager of Marketing and Communications.
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Both Sterling Davis and Nathan Kehn remain across Instagram and TikTok as influencers that specialize in cat content. The two often collaborate on posts where they commonly promote TrapKing Humane, Davis’ non-profit that humanely captures, spays or neuters, and rehomes stray cats.
