More Singapore singles seek ‘meaningful connections’ in dating events and shun matchmaking apps

Content creator Candice Gallagher was scrolling through her social media timeline when she chanced upon a singles mixer in New York that used an algorithm to match people together at the event.

The event, which she called SinglePore, saw almost 3,000 people sign up in just a few hours, Gallagher told her more than 84,100 followers on TikTok earlier in May.

“The [New York] event format was primarily offline or in person, but it had an element of technology incorporated into it. It immediately resonated as a fresh way to approach dating, so I contacted the original event organisers to licence the technology in Singapore,” Gallagher told This Week In Asia.

She is paying to licence the software from a US company called MatchBox, which has been posting on its TikTok account @matchboxparty about similar events hosted in New York since April.

SinglePore now has more than 2,500 people on its waiting list, and its first in-person event is set to take place next month. Gallagher described the event as “a small, heterosexual gathering” with a 50-50 male-to-female ratio.

“The goal is to create an intimate space that allows for attendees to have meaningful conversations and connections,” said Gallagher, a marketing professional in her mid-30s.

During the event, participants will fill a form of 25 questions and the algorithm will match singles up based on compatibility. The results will be shown live and participants can seek out who they are matched with and decide if they want to follow up beyond their initial contact.

Gallagher, who regularly posts about her dating life in Singapore, hopes to hold more events after the first edition of SinglePore.

She said: “I am seeing a growing appetite for in-person events, something I believe is being