“I can’t speak for everyone, but the experience in the last few years since we launched is that people that go on Howdy have used the other dating apps and are still single, so they’ve gone to Howdy for something that’s actually long-term and meaningful.
“It’s not about a quick fix.”
Unlike other apps, Howdy gets users to scroll rather than swipe potential matches. They can also set a radius of their local area or further afield.
“There are people that want that lifestyle, so if you’re not technically living in a rural area but might [be] open to meeting someone who is, you can jump on Howdy,” Ryan said.
“If you wanted to meet someone in the bush, in Australia, then go for it.”
New Zealand Young Farmers partnered with Howdy for the app’s expansion into New Zealand, and chief executive Cheyne Gillooly described it as the latest dating tech meeting the country’s oldest rural dating agency.
He said it was absolutely going off on local clubs’ social media accounts.
“We’re now at over 1.9 million impressions since it launched, people are signing up, and we’re now having events being planned,” he said.
“It was everywhere at Fieldays; it was fun.”
Gillooly said the app fit in nicely with balls and other events clubs organise, which were growing in popularity.
– RNZ