CNA LUXURY - Mar 23 - After 17 years, Lunch Actually is still playing Cupid. Founded in 2004, Lunch Actually is the brainchild of 41-year-old Violet Lim. In her early 20s, Lim was working as a management associate in a bank when she realised that most of her peers, though successful, were single. At the age of 24, Lim took the plunge and left her job to start Lunch Actually together with her now husband, Jamie Lee. To date, it has arranged ~140K dates and matched ~ 4,500 happily married couples. The company has also established offices in Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Thailand. Thanks to dating apps, people have become more open to engaging an external party to help them find love, Lim shared. "The trouble with dating apps is that there are all sorts of characters." Lunch Actually started off as a service to match singles for a lunch date but is now offering coaching services. It launched its own dating app, LunchClick, in 2015 which is meant only for serious daters. Last year, the company also launched the Lunch Actually App, which helps its clients to set up appointments with consultants, view their matches, arrange dates, submit their feedback, and chat with dating coaches. Most recently, the company tapped into livestreaming. Lim has witnessed firsthand the changing preferences of Singaporeans. Interestingly, the Korean drama fever has had some effect. More people now are more concerned about physical appearance. "It could also be a result of Korean dramas, or just TV dramas in general," shared Lim. "Or it could be because of dating apps. On dating apps, the first thing you see is a person's photo."