A centuries-old Ethiopian holiday tradition of tossing lemons (Lomii in Amharic), onto romantic prospects is getting a 21st-century reboot with the ‘Lomii’ dating app. Two tech developers who found themselves closed off from the dating scene during COVID-19-induced lockdowns found a way to fuse their cultural roots, tech skills, and entrepreneurial aspirations.
Users express interest in each other by throwing lemons (Lomii) to each other very much like the age-old tradition during Timket holidays with a basket of offerings availed each day.
The dating app, which was officially launched in January, has racked up 21,000 users who prefer its easy-to-use green interface in their romantic pursuits.
Bereket Lakew, cofounder of Lomii, had an ‘Aha’ moment amid the throes of the global pandemic as he found most offerings in the market ill-suited to his social battery. He and cofounder Ismael Kedir went about creating a beta version over the coming months that can best cater to a uniquely Ethiopian flavor.
“We were surprised by the immediate wave of downloads,” Berket told Shega.
Within three days of the beta launch, over 3,000 people downloaded the app, with the traffic overload crashing the service. The founders recognized a pent-up demand for their product and went on a lengthy optimization campaign to equip Lomii with expanded functionality.
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