Hamit Shala
In short: Hamit Shala is the founder of Dua.com, a dating app for the global Albanian community. In January 2026 he announced that version 5.0 of the app would remove swiping entirely and added mandatory liveness verification, positioning it for marriage-minded users, as reported by Dating Industry Insights.
Key facts
| Role | Founder |
|---|---|
| Organisation | Dua.com |
| Founder | Founder of Dua.com, a dating app for the global Albanian community [Dating Industry Insights, January 2026] |
| Launch | Announced Version 5.0 of Dua.com, which removes the left-right swipe mechanic and is being rolled out over several months [Dating Industry Insights, January 2026] |
| Fact | Positioned the update as anti-casual and built for marriage-minded users [Dating Industry Insights, January 2026] |
| Fact | Version 5.0 adds mandatory liveness verification and regular purges of inactive profiles [Dating Industry Insights, January 2026] |
Biography
Hamit Shala is the founder of Dua.com, a dating app for the Albanian community worldwide. Dating Industry Insights describes the Albanian diaspora as roughly 10 million people, with significant populations in Kosovo, Albania, Switzerland, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States.
In January 2026 Shala announced Version 5.0 of the app, which is being rolled out over several months and removes the left-right swipe mechanic entirely. Writing on LinkedIn, he emphasised what has been removed, namely swiping and the hook-up culture it is said to encourage, and Dating Industry Insights reported him as positioning the app as anti-casual and built for marriage-minded users. Details of the replacement interface were limited in the announcement.
The update also includes mandatory liveness verification, a selfie-based check that confirms users are real people, and regular removal of inactive profiles. Dating Industry Insights described Dua.com as the first dating app of meaningful scale to remove swiping completely, and estimated its user base to be modest, probably in the low hundreds of thousands at most. That estimate is the publication's own and is not a figure from the company.
Career
- Founder, Dua.com
Also mentioned in
Questions about Hamit Shala
Who is Hamit Shala?
Hamit Shala is the founder of Dua.com, a dating app for the global Albanian community.
What changed in Dua.com Version 5.0?
Version 5.0 removes swiping entirely and adds mandatory liveness verification and regular purges of inactive profiles.
What is Hamit Shala's current role?
Hamit Shala is Founder at Dua.com.