This social dining startup connects strangers over a meal

A dinner table | Photo Credit: Getty Images An accounting professional, a musician, three entrepreneurs and a journalist walk into a cafe. Do not wait for a punchline because this is not the set up for a bar joke. These were the participants at a mixed-table event by Oddtables, a nationwide social dining startup.According to founder Vaibhav Jain, the idea came to him while he was doomscrolling and felt a lack of “real human connection”. “The idea for Oddtables felt like a no-brainer, almost as if it was already sitting in the back of my mind. I researched the possibilities of this in India and found that about 43% of urban Indians report loneliness. I have also felt that making friends after a certain point in life can be daunting. This paradoxical situation had an easy fix: make people register for Oddtables online but meet real people offline,” says Vaibhav.The startup began in Delhi over five months ago with tables currently in 16 Indian cities and Singapore. After Delhi, Oddtables spread to other cities such as Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Mumbai. Soon, they began organising a founders’ table for business owners and a women’s-only table in Chennai, while extending their reach to Surat, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Pune, etc.Users can join tables in their city for a monthly fee of ₹1999, which allows them to take part in four tables. Invites are sent on Wednesday, and tables are set according to user responses. During registration, a questionnaire helps identify ideal dinner partners. On Sunday, a final invite is sent. People are sent to different restaurants each time.The number of tables organised depends on the cities. “In Mumbai, we have a total of around 30 tables per week, including the mixed tables, founders’ tables and women’s-only tables. In other cities, it’s less. But on the flip side, the rate of people showing up is way higher in the smaller cities,” says Arushi Garg, media and marketing manager.Over five months into their operation, one challenge the team faces is setting up tables with a 50-50 mixed gender ratio. “We still see more men show up than women. After the initial three months, we saw requests from women for women-only tables. Many women, lose their friends when they move cities after marriage. They need a way to go out and make new friends,” says Arushi, who clarifies that out of the 3,000 users on the platform, 65% are men.She adds, “Initially, we thought that people between the ages of 20 and 35 would be more interested in our concept. But to our amazement, we are getting a lot of people between 40 and 55. It could be because at that age, people have no connection with their school or college friends or perhaps shifted cities early on.”One criticism the platform faces is the lack of hosts to make the conversation flow more easily. “We have thought about it,” says Arushi. “However, when someone subscribes to our platform, it is about stepping out of the comfort zone and meeting new people. There is no judgement because you are meeting strangers. If there is a host, that premise gets lost.” Icebreakers and prompts are mentioned on the website for the diners to ease them into dialogue. Published - November 09, 2026 08:00 am IST