She: Eliana Barbel, 36, dating entrepreneur and partner in the new venture Tandu
He: Dudi Radosezki, 35, owner of Mudito Agents, a studio that builds AI systems and agents for businesses
They: Together for four years, parents to 1-year-old Daniel, living in Tel Aviv
Eliana, Dudi and their daughter
(Photo: Yariv Katz)
Before we met
Eliana: “When I was single, I used dating apps for several years, mostly Tinder. It was like a game for me, a way to make sure there were always at least one or two men ‘courting’ me and that almost every week I had one or two dates on my calendar. I also had several long-term relationships.
“On the other hand, my head was overloaded and chaotic because I knew there were always more options. I could be on a date with someone, go to the bathroom and open Tinder again to see whether another match had sent me a message. It was crazy. Just for perspective, in one ordinary month on Tinder, I looked at 2,888 profiles. I was addicted to the apps, and at the same time I hated them because I realized nobody was really giving anyone a chance.”
The venture
Eliana: “Five and a half years ago, I quit the startup where I was working. I started thinking about dating apps and told myself it made no sense that this was the best way to find love today. That’s how I founded ‘Eli the Bot,’ a matchmaking platform that connected people through their friends using a WhatsApp bot and their phone contacts.
“It was a hit. At its peak, I had 10,000 registered users. Hundreds of couples were formed, and dozens of children were born because of it. People still recognize me on the street as ‘Eli the Bot’ and tell me, ‘My friend just had a baby because of you.’
“At that point, it no longer felt right for me to use dating apps. It felt hypocritical to keep using them while trying to convince the world to meet people differently. So I disconnected, and suddenly there was nothing. No more matches, no more chats with several men at once. Nothing. Nada.
“Suddenly I felt alone in the world. It was withdrawal in every sense. I had to get used to that silence, and strangely, it was precisely out of that silence that I gained a kind of clarity that allowed me to give a real chance to people who came into my life.”
How we met
Eliana: “Two or three times a week I would sit at the neighborhood bar, Foster, near my home, sometimes by myself.”
Dudi: “I lived near the bar and spent a lot of time there. Of course I noticed Eliana. She’s beautiful. When I was looking for extra income, they offered me work there as a bartender.”
Eliana: “One day I was sitting at the bar and noticed a new bartender. I liked what I saw, and something shifted in me. Whenever we interacted, I felt there was chemistry, some kind of electricity passing between us without many words. It was in the looks.”
Dudi: “From the moment we started talking, there was a very strong energy between us. I was looking for a serious relationship and started thinking about the potential between us.”
Eliana: “The fact that he was a bartender bothered me, because at that age I wanted to meet a man who was professionally established. So I started doing some digging and discovered that he was actually doing an internship at the Weizmann Institute.
“Beyond that, I had another problem. I knew that if things didn’t work out between us, I would either have to change bars or they would have to fire him,” she laughs.
“One evening, he came up to me near the bathroom and asked, ‘Maybe we could meet sometime outside the bar?’ I was so surprised that I got incredibly excited and started stammering. I told him I needed a moment to think about it. Then I wrote to him on Facebook that I couldn’t date someone from the bar because if it didn’t work out, it would create an awkward situation.
“After a while, I noticed that I was waiting to see him at the bar, and I realized it was stronger than me. One evening I went there and he wasn’t working. I sent him a message: ‘I’m at the bar and you’re not here.’ He replied that he was home. I asked if he wanted me to come over, and he said, ‘Sure.’
“I brought a bottle of wine, we drank on the balcony and stayed cuddled up on the couch until 3 a.m. It was a perfect date, and we’ve been together ever since. A week later he bought me a toothbrush, and six months later I moved into his place.”
The proposal
Eliana: “It was clear to both of us that this was it. We started talking about children, and he understood that he had to take the step that comes before that. It was a little difficult for him to make the final decision.”
Dudi: “I knew I wanted to marry Eliana, but I had a little trouble with the idea of asking someone I hadn’t known for very long to spend her whole life with me. She kept dropping hints that it needed to happen, and eventually I proposed after a year and a half together.”
Eliana: “He set up music and chocolates on the balcony, covered my eyes, led me outside and proposed. It was very simple, but very us.”
The wedding
Eliana: “We weren’t interested in having a big event. We already had plane tickets to the Costa Brava, so we decided to have an intimate wedding ceremony on the beach, just the two of us.
“I brought a wedding dress from Israel, he wore nice clothes and hired a photographer to document everything. We read things to each other and exchanged rings. We felt completely overwhelmed with love. I was already pregnant, which made it even more emotional. We cried from happiness. Our parents were very happy for us.”
Dudi: “Our son was born a year ago, and we named him Daniel after my grandfather, Dan, who died at the height of the war.”
The new venture
Eliana: “I shut down ‘Eli the Bot’ after three years. Last July, I decided to create a new dating platform that would use AI to help people meet in a positive, respectful and safe way, while giving people a genuine chance. Dudi advised me based on his experience in the field.
“That’s how my partner and I created Tandu, an AI-based personal matchmaker that gets to know you, searches on your behalf and accompanies you until you find a relationship. The official launch is happening right now.”
The bottom line
Eliana: “Our relationship is the kind I dreamed about for many years. It isn’t perfect, but it is unquestionably the best relationship I have ever had. Would I have swiped right on Dudi on Tinder? He’s a year younger than me. He wouldn’t even have made it through the initial age filter I had set.”
Dudi: “Go on dates only when you genuinely want a relationship, not when you’re looking over your shoulder for a better option.”