SOUTH ASIA GLOBE - Sep 6 - During a stint in the financial sector, Violet Lim spotted a trend in the industry: successful singles with no avenue for meeting potential partners. Most of her friends had found their partners in university, after which meeting new people became increasingly difficult. "The concept of lunch dating really resonated with me because I saw my colleagues taking a midday lunch breaks." She ran the idea past her then-boyfriend-now-husband, Jamie, and in 2004, the two decided to launch their own business - Lunch Actually, a dating service that connected busy professionals with lunch partners using traditional matchmaking consultations. The membership package would start at ~$2K. Right off the bat, Violet and Jamie landed $110K investment. Fourteen years on, Lunch Actually's platforms have expanded to Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong and Japan, and acquired four competitors. It staffs of ~120 consultants and other professionals, has arranged 125K successful dates and has become a multimillion-dollar company.
by Janelle Retka
See full article at South Asia Globe