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Oct 2025Candle suffered a full app outage after a mistaken deploy dropped database indexes; the founders said the app would not open until the indexes were rebuilt.
SourceCandle helps couples and friends grow closer daily in just 5 minutes.
Company research
Public company, workplace, funding, and market signals
Updated Jul 29, 2026
Overview
Candle is a YC-backed consumer relationship app for couples and close friends. It uses daily prompts, mini-games, photo challenges, shared widgets, streaks, and date ideas to help people stay emotionally close; the public materials show it as a small, product-led startup under Encore AI Labs, Inc.
Primary product
A daily relationship app for couples and close friends (“the home for your relationship”).
Founded
2025
Headquarters
San Francisco, California, United States
Team size
1-10
Industry
Software Development
Sub-industry
Consumer social / relationship app
Offices
San Francisco, California, United States
Distributed across the United States, Netherlands, and Canada
Business model
freemium
subscription
in-app purchases
Funding
Stage
pre-seed
Total raised
$500K
Latest round
Pre-seed · Dec 2024
Latest amount
$500K
Dec 2024 · Y Combinator
People & investors
Work & culture
Small, fast-moving, creator-led team with a strong taste/speed ethos. Public hiring and founder posts emphasize shipping quickly, in-person collaboration in San Francisco, and building a product for modern relationships from direct user feedback.
Compensation
Public postings mention creator pay per qualified video plus bonuses; full-time openings advertised at $130k-$180k plus equity for a growth lead, $170k-$260k base plus 0.10%-0.50% equity for a core product designer, and $6.5k-$9k/month for an engineering intern.
Benefits
Creator pay per qualified video plus bonuses
Equity for full-time roles
Creator referral bonus for full-time hires
Product & market
Pricing
Freemium with recurring Candle Premium subscriptions (weekly, monthly, and yearly) plus in-app purchases.
Differentiators
- —Daily 1-minute rituals that fit into busy schedules
- —Private shared space for two people
- —Photo prompts and shared photo memories
- —Thumb-kiss haptic feature for long-distance connection
- —Shared widgets / canvas / countdowns on the home screen
- —Adaptive decks and streak mechanics
- —Curated local date ideas
- —Creator-led growth and distribution
Technology
Convex
Amplitude
Helium
TypeScript
Swift
SwiftUI
WidgetKit
JavaScript
Node.js
Customers
Couples
Close friends
Long-distance couples
Married couples
Engaged couples
Competitors
Paired
Couple Joy
Scale & contact
Estimated revenue
About $1.8M ARR, with public claims ranging from $1.2M+ ARR in March 2026 to $3.1M annualized revenue in June 2026.
Signals & risks
Other
Mar 2026A Daylight Saving Time bug briefly miscomputed streak dates and could falsely surface the streak-restore UI; the company said no data was corrupted.
SourceLatest news
LinkedIn · Jun 2026
Alex Ruber said Candle had 1.2M+ users, $3.1M annualized revenue, and $1.8M ARR, and was hiring a growth lead to scale creator and paid social channels.
LinkedIn · Mar 2026
Alex Ruber said Candle had passed 1M+ users, $2M+ annualized revenue, and about $1.2M+ ARR one year after launch.
LinkedIn · Feb 2026
The company announced Candle 2.0 and said the product had grown to 600k+ active users and $1.1M+ ARR in under 10 months.
TechCrunch · Sep 2025
TechCrunch reported that Candle reached 300,000 users, 150,000 couples, and roughly $150,000 monthly revenue (above $1M ARR), and that its backers included Y Combinator, Goodwater Capital, Pioneer Fund, and Progression Fund.
Y Combinator
YC’s launch post describes Candle as a daily relationship app for couples and friends, and says the team had 110k MAUs and 46k DAUs at launch.
Jobs and careers at Candle
0 jobs at Candle
No open positions
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