About Ignighter

About Us Ignighter is a privately funded Startup company based in Union Square, New York City. The idea for Ignighter came out of a real need the founders felt in their everyday lives to meet new people in a more fun, less awkward environment. The entire Ignighter team is passionate about changing the way that people think about their options when it comes to online dating.

Ignighter launched in NYC in August of 2008 and has grown to incorporate users in 28 countries around the world.

Sounds pretty good huh? Ready to get started?

What is Ignighter? Let's be honest, 90% of the time meeting someone one-on-one is more awkward than a junior high dance. You're both too nervous thinking about how quickly you can down a glass of wine without coming across like a raging alcoholic to remember - this is supposed to be fun!

That's why we created Ignighter. It lets you and your date bring your best accessory on every date: your friends. It takes the pressure (and probably a good amount of sweat) out of the equation, so you can chill out and have a good time.

How's it work? Dating can be intimidating. Dating websites can be even worse. All of that is avoided with the simple and seamless process of Ignighter.

• Create your group. No ridiculous 150 question quiz. No 500-word soliloquy on your best feature. Just tell the people why you and your friends are awesome.
• Check out the talent. Find groups in your area to see who looks like a good time. It's legal stalking. Go for it!
• Get after it. There's nothing cool about spending your night on the computer or watching yet another romantic comedy. You've found some good looking guys, so get your girlfriends together and make some memories.
• Had fun? Prove it. Rehash your night, upload some pics, and get ready for round two!

Who's the team? Take a look at the good looking crew writing and coding and crunching the numbers to make sure your Ignighter experience is nothing short of en fuego.

• Adam Sachs - the words guy - twitter
  Adam is a giant overachiever and double majored in Radio/TV/Film and History at Northwestern. After graduating in 2005, he put all of those degrees to work across the pond teaching English in Prague and Madrid. When he'd had enough worldly experiences, he found a home on Sony Pictures TV team. You might think pop-culture'ing all day is as good as it gets, but as soon as Adam co-founded a hot little group dating website known as Ignighter, he realized otherwise. When not hooking fine looking young people up with their counterparts, Adam can be found obsessively cheering on the NY Giants and/or NJ Nets.
• Dan Osit - the numbers guy - twitter
  Dan ended his four years of hibernation at chilly Northwestern University in 2004. Shortly after, he co-founded Glenpoint Capital Partners, an event-driven proprietary trading firm, to spend his days doing as much math as possible. Here, Dan managed a budget of over $20M and led a team of five traders. Calculators lose their appeal after awhile, so Dan moved on from Glenpoint in 2008 to co-found Ignighter. While it may seem that Dan has reached the pinnacle of his life, he has yet to complete his lifetime goal: owning a nacho cheese dispenser. Dream big, Dan. Dream big...
• Kevin Owocki - the code guy - twitter
  Kevin hacked his way through the University of Delaware, escaping with a BS in Computer Science. For two of those years, he took time out of his study sessions to help build Vanguard's back-end system. If you're keeping count, Kevin has been engineering software for the past eight years - seeing the trend with overachievers in this company? He joined the Ignighter team as Lead Developer in 2008. Huge year for Kevin, as he also proudly graduated from Techstars in 2008. Kevin is an avid runner and loves Ultimate Frisbee. Kevin has no lifetime goals.
• Ayca Aksu - the user expert - twitter
  At the University of Michigan's School of Information, Ayca studied Human-Computer Interaction. Whoa, huh? She gets more impressive - she also holds a BS degree in Computer Engineering from Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey. After grad school, Ayca spent a few years as at Xanga as a Product Manager building new website features. With a background in interface and interaction design, Ayca is the user expert on the development team. When she's not advising us on all things you, Ayca can be found reading comic books and catching the latest haps in the sci-fi world.
• Nicky Leach - the techie - twitter
  Nicky may be the young buck on the team, but he's been a freelance web designer and developer since he was just 15. After graduating from Boulder High School, Nicky headed to the big city to attend New York University pursuit of a degree in - you guessed it - Computer Science. Nicky has some pretty serious start-up chops having been a part of several young companies including eNeighbors and NoteCut. He joined Ignighter in the summer of 2008 and has thoroughly enjoyed the TechStars experience. Nicky's lifetime goal is to develop a lifetime goal that rivals Dan's.