CERCA

CERCA is an emergent trust-based dating platform launched in 2025 by Georgetown University students Myles Slayton, William Conzelman, and Carter Munk that fundamentally reimagines dating safety by restricting matches exclusively to friends-of-friends and direct mutual connections within users' verified social networks. The platform's core innovation involves displaying mutual friends in common on every profile, enabling prospective daters to conduct peer-to-peer vetting through existing social connections rather than relying solely on platform algorithms, substantially increasing perceived legitimacy and reducing catfishing incidents.

CERCA enforces limited daily swiping with only four matches per day to combat endless scrolling fatigue while implementing anonymous matching functionality where users can express interest without notification until mutual matching occurs, reducing rejection-based anxiety common on competitor platforms. The startup has achieved remarkable early traction with approximately 60,000 users within three months of launch, including nearly one-third of Georgetown University's undergraduate population, demonstrating strong product-market fit within campus dating demographics.

Daily match reveals occur at 8 PM EST, creating anticipated discovery moments while the app's architecture emphasizes intentionality over quantity-based matching paradigms prevalent in mainstream dating applications. Former executives from Tinder, Match Group, OkCupid, and Grindr have backed CERCA's Series A funding, signaling experienced industry recognition of its potential to capture Gen Z dating preferences emphasizing safety, authenticity, and network-based trust mechanisms.