Drybaby is a dating app for the ‘sober curious’ movement

Drybaby is the newest dating app designed for singles who are sober or interested in reducing their alcohol consumption. 

The app arrives as 41% of Americans are cutting back on drinking as part of the so-called “sober curious” movement. According to a recent study commissioned by NCSolutions, Gen Zers have expressed particular interest in the movement, with 61% of them planning to cut back on alcohol.

Drybaby is also embracing the growing trend of in-person dating experiences, trying to foster a sense of community through alcohol-free socializing. Its main feature is the community section, a hub for users to connect and share events.

So far, Drybaby has partnered with companies based in New York City like Reading Rhythms, which hosts reading parties; Storytell, for finding in-real-life gatherings; and The Feels, which is known for its “mindful” events for singles. More events will roll out in the fall, including an alcohol-free dance/event tour. 

Drybaby also has a text-based weekly newsletter called Drybaby Drop to highlight local events tailored to sober lifestyles. An in-app weekly calendar shows additional local alcohol-free activities. 

“We recognized that there was a very large and underserved community of people that are looking to meet and have [alcohol-free] activities together,” co-founder John Calaba told TechCrunch. “There’s very little education on what to do if you’re not sitting around a dark bar.”

Calaba is joined by an expert founding team of former employees at Airbnb, Amazon, Meta, and Snap. Additionally, Dominic Gallello, Bumble’s former chief marketing officer, is Drybaby’s growth advisor.

Drybaby is among the mix of established and newer sober dating startups entering the trend, such as CASL, Loosid, and Sober Grid, among others. The newest app on the market is Club Pillar, an invite-only sober dating app that costs up to $50/month.

But Drybaby is free, and isn’t as strict about accepting users who aren’t completely sober. 

In fact, Drybaby accepts all types of people, including those who are “California sober” (meaning they smoke cannabis but consume no other drugs or alcohol), or mindful drinkers who are simply curious about alcohol-free events in their area.  

“We want to create an inviting environment for them and welcome the opportunity to try alcohol-free socializing. It’s something that I think a lot of people may be a little bit apprehensive about at first, but we think we’ve created an environment that is safe, fun, supportive, and authentic for people to try it out,” Calaba said.

The iOS app is currently available in Los Angeles and New York City, with plans to add other cities like Denver and Boulder, Colorado. An Android version is also in the works.

Drybaby is mostly bootstrapped. However, the company is in the middle of raising its seed funding round. The total sum and participating investors weren’t disclosed.