Category: Paktor

Lunch Actually Has Set up 160K First Dates

Posted on April 10, 2025
Logo of Lunch Actually


MUST SHARE NEWS – Violet Lim, CEO and co-founder of Singapore-based matchmaking agency Lunch Actually, has spent 21 years in the business, arranging 160K first dates and matching 4,500 couples across five countries. Despite industry challenges and rising competition from dating apps, her agency boasts an 85% satisfaction rate. Lim says success in love isn’t just about data or checklists – mindset, self-awareness, and dating skills matter. With a 60/40 female-to-male client ratio, mismatched expectations and unrealistic standards remain common hurdles. After merging with app Paktor, the agency expanded its reach and added coaching services, but Lim admits: chemistry can’t be engineered.

by Prudence Lim
See full article at Must Share News

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Shn Juay, Former Paktor CEO, Appointed CEO Worldwide of Coffee Meets Bagel

Posted on January 13, 2025

CoffeeMeetsBagel Shn Juay
OPW – Shn Juay, who spent six years at Paktor, including serving as its CEO, is now the CEO worldwide at Coffee Meets Bagel. With a wealth of experience in the dating industry, she takes on this role to further strengthen the brand's mission of connecting serious daters. During her time at Paktor, she oversaw both online and offline matchmaking platforms. Coffee Meets Bagel, a San Francisco-based dating app launched in 2012, focuses on fostering serious relationships through features like detailed profiles and limited matches. The app gained attention after appearing on Shark Tank in 2015.

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Lunch Actually and Paktor Merge to Lead Asia’s Dating Scene

Posted on September 9, 2024

Violet Lim, Lunch Actually and Alex Tam, PaktorLINKEDIN – Lunch Actually, a prominent matchmaking service in Asia, has merged with Paktor, a leading digital dating platform, to form the Lunch Actually Paktor Group. This merger blends Lunch Actually's 20 years of experience in personal matchmaking with Paktor's expertise in digital dating, aiming to provide singles with a comprehensive approach to finding love across six Asian markets: Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia. The new group will combine traditional matchmaking methods with digital innovation, addressing evolving customer needs and dating fatigue.

See full article at LinkedIn

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Beyond the Swipes: Declining Marriage Aspirations and the Future of Paktor – Alex Tam

Posted on March 27, 2024

LTR – Alex Tam, CEO of Paktor Group, which was founded in 2013, offers online dating apps and offline matchmaking services primarily in Asia. Tam explained the trend of decreasing intentions to marry among single people, citing financial problems and a decreasing desire to have children. To address this, Paktor is diversifying its services, integrating online and offline experiences, expanding into new markets, embracing inclusivity (including LGBT matchmaking), and expanding their services beyond just facilitating first dates. They are also exploring gifting initiatives to enhance user experience. Despite declining marriage rates, Paktor aims to make dating easier, more integrated, inclusive, and fun for singles, with a focus on helping them find potential partners, whatever the outcome of the marriage.

The February LTR was kindly sponsored by ParshipMeet Group, RealMe, along with Courtland Brooks and Matchmaker.com

Hong Kong Watchdog Takes Swipe at Tinder’s Age Based Fees

Posted on January 17, 2023

Tinder for social media1THE STANDARD – The Consumer Council claims Tinder has an "unfair" pricing mechanism that charges users an annual subscription according to age. The council registered accounts for users aged 18 to 68 with intervals of 10 years.  The highest fees are for 38-year-olds, followed by for 18-year-olds and 58-year-olds. The cheapest are for those whose ages are 28, 48 and 68. The app charges 38-year-old platinum account holders HK$1,318 annually, which is 42% higher than users from the lowest-priced group. The watchdog urged Tinder to make rectifications. The council also found dating apps reveal users' personal information for marketing and advertising after a trial of nine popular ones in Hong Kong between October and December. The nine tested were Bumble, Coffee Meets Bagel, Goodnight, Heymandi, OkCupid, Omi, Paktor, SweetRing and Tinder. All were found to have preset permission to use account owners' data, including name, gender, sexual orientation, date of birth, location, e-mail address and phone number for marketing or advertising. Only three apps allowed users to opt-out.  Age is not covered under Hong Kong's anti-discrimination laws, an Equal Opportunities Commission spokesman said.

by Eunice Lam
See full article at Teh Standard

Mark Brooks: Do you think Tinder, and nay, the industry at large, make rectifications? Is age-based pricing logical and justifiable, or just wholly unfair? Your comments, please.

Alex Tam, CEO of Paktor – How Paktor Has Brought Asia Together

Posted on October 28, 2022

LTR – As the Group CEO of Paktor & GaiGai, Alex oversees online and offline matchmaking brands as well as the associated dating and image coaching businesses in Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Hong Kong. GaiGai was started for singles to meet in casual settings without the hours of swiping and chatting. Prior to starting GaiGai, Alex worked as an investment analyst at hedge fund Lionport Capital in Singapore. He graduated with a double degree in Accounting and Business Management. Alex mentioned that localisation is important in dating apps. Paktor's local branding is through the use of stickers and gifts to engage local singles. Paktor also partners with local businesses including tourist attractions.

LTR stands for Love, Technology, Relationships and the online conference covers the Internet dating and Online Social Communities space. It is for members of IDEA and OSCA.

The September LTR was kindly sponsored by RealMe, vPaaS by Meet Group, and Courtland Brooks

Joseph Phua of M17 – “Companies Shut Down When Founders Give up”

Posted on October 10, 2020

Paktor joseph phua linkedinE27 – Oct 8 – Just out of a very long relationship, Joseph Phua wanted to create an online platform to meet new people. It was back in 2013. Paktor, the app he launched in 2013, is now the largest dating app in Southeast Asia. Paktor has raised ~$52M and acquired five companies, before being merged with Taiwan's M17 Media to form M17 Entertainment. In May this year, Kollective Ventures acquired Paktor Group from M17 Entertainment. Phua recently stepped down as the CEO of M17 Group to assume the role of Chairman. "We faced many challenges with regards to fundraising, finding a sustainable business model, expanding globally, overcoming cultural differences and learning about the different markets", he says. "We expanded into eleven markets but it was expensive. We realized it was a mistake. There were several situations wherein we ran out of money but we never thought of shutting down. A company itself is a shell; what gives life to it are the ideas and the beliefs behind it. You can always pivot. Over our seven years of existence, we have pivoted many times. We first laid-off employees in 2013 and then again in six months after we expanded into 11 markets. We had to let go of 70-80 people. Then we had to move from being a free service to a paid one. Three key things that I learned trying to get out of the difficult situation:

  1. It is always going to be the darkest just before light.
  2. Running a business is all about its people. You must know how to lead like a person.
  3. Be grateful for everything you have. If you keep comparing and keep looking at what you don't have, then you will kill yourself.

by Sainul Abudheen K
See full article at E27

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Paktor Acquired by Singapore Advisory Firm Kollective Ventures

Posted on May 21, 2020

Paktor logo new jan 16TECH IN ASIA – May 21 – Singapore-based advisory firm Kollective Ventures has acquired dating and networking app operator Paktor Group from Taiwan's M17 Entertainment. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Paktor Group was formed in 2013 by M17's current CEO Joseph Phua. It owns a number of dating assets, including its namesake app that has operations in Taiwan, Korea, and Southeast Asia. It also runs Goodnight, an app that enables voice conversations between strangers. Paktor was merged with livestreaming company 17 Media in April 2017 to form M17.

by Miguel Cordon
See full article at Tech In Asia

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This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.com

Live Streaming Platform M17 Raises $26.5M in Series D Round

Posted on May 12, 2020

M17 Media logoDEALSTREET ASIA – May 11 – M17 Entertainment has landed $26.5M in a Series D funding round led by the Temasek-backed Vertex Growth Fund. The company will focus on deepening its presence in Japan and the rest of developed Asia, while planning expansion into the US and new markets such as the Middle East. M17 said it has the largest live streaming platform in developed Asia, with ~60% market share by revenue in Japan and Taiwan. M17’s estimated annual revenue is $180M. In 2018, M17 raised $25M. The company also raised a $40M Series A round in 2017. M17 was formed in April 2017 after the merger of Singapore-based Paktor Group and Taiwan-based 17 Media, a regional live streaming company. The company's main dating apps are Paktor and Goodnight. M17 had planned to list its Paktor dating and networking app on the New York Stock Exchange in a $115M IPO in 2018, but it withdrew the application after the IPO roadshow only raised $60M.

by Leslie Shaffer
See full article at DealStreet Asia

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This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.com

Life Lessons From Paktor’s Co-founder

Posted on April 7, 2020

Paktor joseph phua 2020CNA LIFESTYLE – Apr 5 – As CEO of M17 Entertainment Group, the entrepreneur has led the firm to become the largest live streaming and social entertainment company in Asia. In 2012 Tinder and Coffee Meets Bagel launched in the US and Joseph Phua chose to build his own platform that catered to the Asian community. After completing his MBA at University of Chicago in 2013, he returned to Singapore and launched Paktor with his primary school classmate, Ng Jing Shen. Paktor now has 20+ million users across eight Asian markets. In Nov 2019 they acquired live streaming platform MeMe Live. "We connect people in real-time and provide them with entertainment."

by Chong Seow Wei
See full article at CNA Lifestyle

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