Entrepreneur Profile: Tim Johnson and Denesh Raymond, founders of Couply

Staples is proud to support Canadian entrepreneurs with tools and resources to help them build their businesses and turn their dreams into reality. That’s why, together with Ownr (by RBC Ventures), Shopify and Moneris, we joined the Canada Starts initiative to support Canadian entrepreneurs by awarding grants to help them get their big idea off the ground. We caught up with Tim Johnson and Denesh Raymond, founders of Couply, to find out how their business venture is going since being awarded a Canada Starts grant.

Tell us a bit about your business

Couply is the app for couples. You can use Couply to take research-based personality quizzes that lead to customized date ideas, gift suggestions and relationship advice. These date ideas can be booked right in the app. Daily conversation starters spark deep discussions between you and your partner. All of this works to help futureproof relationships. Our goal is to use technology to help people create better relationships!

How did you get started?

Tim: For me, it began after a long relationship ended and I realized there are so many apps that help us get into relationships, but so few to help us once we are in a relationship! Where is the app for couples? I felt there could be a space for us to make a huge impact here.

Denesh: When Tim approached me with this idea back in 2019, I had just wrapped an app project and learnt a brand-new coding system. When he told me the idea for Couply, I was certain there must be something like that out there. I was blown away to see there wasn’t. I was ready to sink my teeth into a new project, so we started working on it right away and we really haven’t looked back.

How did COVID-19 shape your business idea?

Tim: The timing was perfect. People were cooped up with their loved ones with nothing to do. Part of our app is custom date ideas based on things your partner would like. We pivoted the app right away to make sure we could send out these fun activities that were COVID-friendly, like blindfolded baking, or doing a sketch portrait of your partner. I think people appreciated the challenge of having a new fun activity to do each week that was free and could be done in a lockdown.

We also made the decision to keep Couply free, which is important to us. COVID has hit a lot of people really hard. We had someone recently reach out just to say because of the impact of COVID on their business, the financial strain had really affected their relationship. They wanted to thank us as they were using Couply to reconnect and it was working!

Denesh: As things open up post-pandemic, it gets even more exciting. We can start recommending more localized experiences for Couples. We know that people are going to be out there and taking advantage of this time to create new memories and that is something we think we can tie into the app in a neat way. As you build up your history of dates in Couply, there are some cool things we are building to help bring these meaningful moments to life.

What’s the reception been like?

Tim: Right now we have around 10,000 people using the app and we are growing by over 1,000 a week. Our daily downloads have consistently doubled each month. This is all organic! So Couply is spreading by word of mouth and referrals which is really exciting. A large part of this was due to recently winning the Collision conference Pitch contest. Putting ourselves out there at one of the largest tech conferences in the world and being the only Canadian company in the finals and then winning was incredible! That led to some news features and exposure. Since then the traction for Couply has been incredible.

What’s your greatest challenge as a business owner right now?

Tim: For now, we are a small team. We have so many ideas for amazing features that no one has ever seen before. We want to create them all, right now. We’re looking forward to doing more in-person networking, so we’re excited for things to open up post-pandemic.

Where do you think entrepreneurs should invest their time and money?

Denesh: I’m no expert, but when I look at the entrepreneurs I know who have been successful, they keep investing in themselves and their business. They keep their big vision clear but the path there is flexible based on what their audience or customer wants.

What keeps you inspired and working every day?

Tim: We have the great privilege to be building a new kind of app on a new frontier and already helping thousands of Couples around the world. It’s an absolute joy to work on this! With a big idea like this, you need help. What’s been amazing is the people who have come forward to help us; new friends, old colleagues and old friends in the tech space. The entire Toronto tech ecosystem has been incredibly supportive. Couply’s growth is a testament to the great people we have here. If we can find success in helping wonderful people have great relationships, then as far as we are concerned, we are living the absolute dream!

How does Staples Canada help your business?

Denesh: Working at Staples was the first job I had! Since then, I’ve always bought my office supplies from Staples. I know I can go to Staples for electronics, computers, monitors, printing, shipping, pretty much anything you need for a business or home office.

Tim: We also know there is the Staples co-working space downtown that we would love to check out post-pandemic!

To learn more about Couply, download the app or visit

Instagram: @CouplyApp

Twitter: @CouplyApp

Check out Small Business & Entrepreneurship on our Working and Learning Blog to learn more about how Staples Canada is supporting Canadian entrepreneurs.