A dating app aimed at single parents is building on an successful debut year of trading by closing its first external investment round. The app has received a £250,000 angel and VC investment and is now ready to leverage its steady growth and scale the business.
Playdate was founded by single mother and marketer Nevine Coutry who acted after being frustrated at the lack of opportunities to meet like-minded single parents. Her vision is to allow single parents to find meaningful relationships which work alongside their lifestyle and commitments.
It launched in April 2021 and has seen incremental growth from both genders. Key features include a childcare solution that works in partnership with the nanny and sitter app, Bubble, as well as a feature which allows users to make themselves invisible to ex-partners.
Coutry plans to invest in growing the team, optimising the technology and amplifying the app’s digital marketing campaign to accelerate growth. Her long-term vision is for it to become the world’s leading app of its kind with expansion plans to penetrate the US and Europe followed by Asia, South America, and the rest of the world.
“I’m delighted with the success that we have enjoyed during the first year and cannot wait to build on this, expand the app, and help many more single parents find love,” she said.
“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. This untapped potential coupled with the organic growth over the past year is what has really driven this new investment.”
Pierre Rolin, CEO of Ankh Impact Ventures, the VC behind the investment said: “AIV is very proud to support Playdate’s game-changing efforts to meet the unique needs of single parents. By fostering new relationships and family units, Playdate will improve children’s mental wellness and happiness and bring financial security to more families.”
Their own research suggests there is a huge gap globally given there are currently around 2.9 million single parents in the UK and 320 worldwide. Around one in five relationships start online in the UK and 68 per cent of the population has either used a dating app before or are currently using dating apps.
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