# Candle

> Candle is a San Francisco-based consumer social app that helps couples and close friends grow closer in about five minutes a day through one shared, random challenge - a question, debate, drawing or photo prompt, mini game, or local date idea. Founded by ex-Apple engineer Alex Ruber and ex-Twitter/Asana engineer Parth Chopra, the Y Combinator (Fall 2024) startup pivoted from an AI shopping tool and reached over a million users and a $1M+ annual revenue run rate within roughly six months of launch.

- **Founded:** 2024
- **Headquarters:** San Francisco, California, United States
- **Founders:** Alex Ruber (Co-founder & CEO - former iOS/architecture engineer at Apple, flight systems engineer at NASA JPL), Parth Chopra (Co-founder & CTO - former engineer at Twitter and Asana)
- **Team size:** 9 employees (reported); YC profile lists 2 founders
- **Products:** Candle (couples & relationship app), Daily challenges & games, Shared widgets & love notes, Private memories & bucket list
- **Notable:** Reached over 1 million users (per company website)., Grew to ~300,000 users and 250,000+ monthly actives within roughly six months of launch., Achieved a $1M+ annual revenue run rate in about six months.

## Products & services

- **Candle (couples & relationship app)** — A daily game for couples and close friends: one shared random challenge a day - a thoughtful question, a debate, a drawing or photo challenge, a mini game, or a local date idea.
- **Daily challenges & games** — Mini games, deep questions, and drawing challenges with global leaderboards and stats so couples can see how they stacked up.
- **Shared widgets & love notes** — Lock screen widgets, love notes, countdown timers for long-distance couples, and streak tracking to keep the daily habit alive.
- **Private memories & bucket list** — Private photo sharing, memory storage, shared bucket lists, and weekly local date-idea suggestions.

## Achievements

- Reached over 1 million users (per company website).
- Grew to ~300,000 users and 250,000+ monthly actives within roughly six months of launch.
- Achieved a $1M+ annual revenue run rate in about six months.
- DAU/MAU ratio near 50%, unusually high for consumer social.
- Ranked in the Apple App Store top 25 multiple times.
- App Store rating around 4.7-4.8 stars across thousands of reviews.
- Backed by Y Combinator (F24) after pivoting from an AI shopping tool that had raised ~$2M.

## Latest updates

- **2026-01** — Company website reports over 1 million users and a ~4.82-star rating, positioning Candle as a leading connection game.
- **2025-11** — Press coverage highlights ~300K users, 150K couples, and a $1M+ ARR roughly six months after launch.

## Links

- Website: https://trycandle.app
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/encore-ai-labs
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/trycandleapp
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trycandle.app
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@trycandle.app

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/candle-yc-f24
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-31