This Startup Will Give You $10,000 in Cash to Get Married, But There’s a Dirty Catch

December 17, 2015

A soon-to-launch startup called SwanLuv is offering lovebirds an incentive to get hitched. They will give engaged couples up to $10,000 in cash for their weddings.

However, there’s a catch: if a couple decides to get divorced at any point, they will need to pay back the money given to them plus interest incurred over the years.

Scott Avy, co-founder of SwanLuv, told that Washington Post that he doesn’t really intend to profit off of people’s divorces but instead wants to encourage couples to work out their differences and stay together.

“Swans, they mate for life,” Avy told the Washington Post, whose day job is a product manager at Expedia. “That’s what we’re trying to get behind, everlasting marriage.”

The startup plans to make money through advertising and the money it potentially brings in from divorces. That money is used to fund future couples’ weddings.

The company says it plans to also offer free marriage counseling to its couples.

While the United States has one of the highest divorce rates in the world, it’s also seen a 3% decline since the 2008 recession, according to University of Maryland demographer Philip Cohen.

Regardless of the statistics, Avy says he’s gotten great feedback about SwanLuv so far.

“We’re not forcing anyone to sign up,” he told the Post. “The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. I’ve gotten hundreds of emails telling me how meaningful this is.”

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