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Move over, Match.com. For bookworms, movies buffs, and Netflix junkies, there’s a new dating site in town.
Well, sorta. Meet CharacTour, a newly launched, Chicago-based website that aims to match users with characters from TV shows, movies, books, video games, and even comic books they might like.
“With the migration from bookstore to online sources, so many books get lost,” said CharacTour CEO and co-founder Kimberly Foerster. “Online, there are a million choices and no easy way to wade through them. In publishing, people refer to it as the ‘discovery issue.’”
And it’s not just books that are getting lost in the shuffle. With an ever-increasing pool of options on Netflix and other streaming sites, it can be hard for people to find their next Hermione Granger, Jon Snow, or Walter White.
CharacTour’s goal, said Foerster, is to address that issue by introducing its users to characters ahead of time. That way, people won’t waste time investing in characters they ultimately won’t connect with or enjoy.
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The site offers a variety of ways for users to discover new characters. Users can choose to browse the site’s 4500 character profiles — sorting by qualifiers like relationship status, profession, or location — or they can take the site’s personality assessment to get matched with characters they're most compatible with.
The recommendation engine is powered by a patent-pending algorithm and was a favorite amongst its beta users, according to Pete McEntegart, co-founder and editor-in-chief.
“Those quizzes are really popular on sites like Buzzfeed, but they’re limiting,” Foerster added. “They only offer three or four characters from one show or movie or book, and those get passed along on social media like crazy. We offer a lot more detail.”
When you’re matched with a character, the site provides links to Amazon or Barnes and Noble so you can order whatever book, movie, or TV your new match calls home. You’ll also be met with recommended characters that are similar to the one you’re compatible with.
Users can also explore character quotes, participate in online discussions, and contribute to rankings like “Top 20 Killers We’d Want to Have a Beer With.” By gamifying the discovery process, CharacTour hopes to keep users entertained long after they’ve discovered what book series or movie to check out next.
The company, which is based out of Wicker Park’s coworking space Free Range Office, has already raised $700,000 from friends, family, and angel investors.
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