Veep friend finder app races to 5,000 users in one week, dev says

The new meetup/hookup app Veep has raced to 5,000 users after launching a week ago in the App Store, says the app’s developer.

Veep, which is free, combines interest-based dating/hookup/friending functions with secure messaging to create a very straightforward way to meet people.

“Before I made Veep I noticed how nearly all of the other popular social discovery apps didn’t really have a way to search for someone who’s into the same stuff you are,” said the developer, 19-year-old Hunter Harris.

“So when making Veep I capitalized on that: Veep has a unique interest system that lets users search for people based on any combination of their interests and hobbies,” Harris told VentureBeat in an email Saturday.

Using Veep, you set up a profile with information about yourself, and mark your interests with emoji. The app is geared toward younger users. There’s a “DTF” button, for example (slang for a “willing” sexual partner).

Asked why someone might pick Veep over another dating app, like Tinder, Harris said his app is unique because it’s completely free, doesn’t require a Facebook profile, and features the unique interest-searching system.

Also, there aren’t any chat restrictions, in-app purchases, or ads.

I asked Harris if he’s received any user complaints.

“I haven’t really gotten many complaints — mainly just that there aren’t enough people online, which I’m trying to solve.”

Actually, the app is too new to have many comments at all, but the ones I saw were all positive, like this one:

“Honestly it’s just a quick way to see if my friends are nearby so we can hang out or a great way to meet new people,” wrote Ninja2915. “It has reliable messaging; it also has a few different privacy settings so that makes it better than most apps like this.”

If the app continues growing at its current rate, Veep might have 100,000 users before Harris turns 20.