The online dating process can be exhausting and unproductive, but there are apps like Bumble and more that make it easier. In most popular dating apps, search results aren’t satisfactory, especially when it comes to single parents.
Consequently, Playdate, the UK-based first dating app aimed solely at single parents has announced it has received a £250,000 angel and VC investment. The investment came from the VC firm Ankh Impact Ventures, along with a series of angel investors.
Nevine Coutry, a marketing entrepreneur and single mother, founded the app after learning how difficult it can be to date as a single parent. Her frustration at the lack of opportunities to meet like-minded single parents led her to launch her own app. With Playdate, she hopes to help single parents find meaningful relationships that work around their lifestyle and commitments.
The business has been bootstrapped since 2021, and Nevine intends to use the latest funding to scale it in the United Kingdom by expanding the team, optimising the technology, and accelerating the digital marketing campaign.
According to Playdate’s research, there is a significant need in the UK and the rest of the world for a dating app for single parents. There are around 2.9M single parents in the United Kingdom and 320M single parents globally. In the UK, one in every five relationships begins online, and 68% of the population has used or is now using a dating app.
One of the stand out features of the app include an in-app childcare solution which is in partnership with the UK’s nanny and sitter app, Bubble. Further, it also offers a “invisibility” function to avoid being spotted by ex-partners.
Nevine comments, “I’m delighted with the success that we have enjoyed during the first year of Playdate and can not wait to build on this, expand the app, and help many more single parents find love. When I first started to develop Playdate the world was going into lockdown and when we actually launched there were still many restrictions around meeting. Despite these obstacles, Playdate has flourished which is only testament to the fact that there is a huge audience for the app. This untapped potential coupled with the organic growth over the past year is what has really driven this new investment.”
“AIV is very proud to support Playdate’s game-changing efforts to meet the unique needs of single parents,” says Pierre Rolin, Founder and CEO of Ankh Impact Ventures, the VC participating in this investment round. “Playdate’s mission is aligned with our focus on social impact and building an inclusive digital economy. By fostering new relationships and family units, Playdate will improve children’s mental wellness and happiness and bring financial security to more families.”
How was Playdate founded?
Coutry started her career as a marketing manager for a tourism company in her home country of Egypt.
After relocating to the UK in 2012, she launched Vcom Marketing, a successful marketing agency that grew quickly by providing global enterprises and startups with UK representation and marketing services.
Nevine’s company specialised mostly in tourism and events, but when pandemic came, she lost all of her clients and business overnight, leaving her with nothing.
After conducting market research, Coutry discovered that none of the 1,400 dating websites and apps available in the UK specialised specifically to single parents. Then she decided to launch Playdate in 2021.
