This Matchmaking Service is Helping M'sians Find Love According to Their Type Via Speed Dates & Social Events

What’s interesting is that their events even cater to those looking for people with the same values, such as Bilingual English Chinese, Catholics, Muslims, and even Introverts. Plus, part of their proceeds goes to charitable causes!

To help all the single Malaysians out there (okay, this is us), Rojak Daily spoke to the Co-Founder of The Date Well Project (DWP), Grace Tan, to find out more about their dating services.

“To be very transparent, I wanted to meet someone but didn’t feel comfortable putting my profile out there on a dating app after the pandemic. I started looking for singles events but it seemed too formal for my liking. At the same time, I kept hearing stories from people struggling to find a good partner online and getting ghosted. It is ironic seeing how connected we are in this day and age, but so disconnected at the same time.”

With encouragement from some good friends, Grace decided to organise their first event, a painting singles and mingle in December 2022. The 32-year-old started getting more queries, and the rest, as they say, is history.

“DWP was founded at a time when people were looking for connections. We were isolated for long periods during the pandemic and did not have the opportunity to connect with others and expand our social circles. Social isolation amongst singles was becoming a real issue,” explained Grace, who has a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and Psychology. The good news is Grace’s boyfriend is someone she met during the event!

Together with Co-Founder and CEO Carlos Fernández, there are currently six people in the team, including matchmakers who went through certification under the MMI (Matchmaking Institute School of Relationship Sciences). “This helps to make sure that our judgement has a scientific foundation at the moment of matching profiles, more than just casually thinking, 'Oh, I think you are a good person; let me show you, someone’. People have psychological traits that match better with certain profiles, and those who are untrained are not aware of those.”

Find your Valentine

What makes DWP different from other dating agencies out there is its vision to provide an open space for singles and couples to make new connections so they can meet new friends, find love, and grow their love. Grace elaborated, “We deliver a message that helps re-educate our audience to reduce taboos, judgements and pain in the world of dating. We usually wish that our customers don’t have to come back because they found their ‘Forever Someone’ at our event.”

As mentioned earlier, DWP holds very specific speed dating events, such as those looking for partners of a specific religion. “Malaysia is a sea of diversity, so we do several tests according to requests, feedback and nuances that we notice.”

Grace also explained that they try their best to keep genders balanced at their speed dating events, with no more than a 10% imbalance. “Our average matching rate is over 60%, which means there is a good chance for you to make good connections! We try to go beyond superficial with our ice-breakers and challenging questions, and we are starting to run tests on how to make this matching rate even higher.”

Different people want different things, and Grace shared, “Some people also have very, very specific requests such as zodiac birth chart requirements. As many of our participants of both genders are gamers, some also look for someone with the same gaming skill so they can play ranked matches together.”

Premium matchmaking consultations

If speed dating events are too exhausting for you (hello, introverts), DWP also offers premium matchmaking consultations. Grace said, “Once the client understands this is a premium paid service, we proceed with an onboarding call with a professional psychologist and matchmaker. We create a psychological profile that helps to not only understand what the client wants but also what they need and pairs up better with them. We start then start the search for a matching profile in our pool of singles.”

When a potential match (or matches) is found, a call is scheduled with the client to provide the details of the blind date (confidentially, of course). There is also an option to see how the person looks under terms and conditions. Once a match is accepted, a quick brief is done before and after the blind date arrangement. DWP also provides pre-date coaching to guide our clients through pre-date jitters and expectations, as well as post-date feedback.

Grace said that many people are too shy to share their success stories, but there are several who are dating, two engaged couples, and one married couple since they started DWP a year and a half ago.

Making a difference

If you’re wondering how much finding The One will set you back, their speed dating event ticket prices are usually in the RM100+ range and include F&B, facilitation to help their attendees warm up professional matchmaking, and any support before and after the event. Meanwhile, their Premium 1:1 Matchmaking Programme starts at RM800+ per date, depending on the packages and requirements of individuals.

Besides helping people to find love, DWP is also keen on doing good by donating part of its proceeds to two NGOs. This includes Yayasan Chow Kit, which supports children from vulnerable communities, and HOPE Worldwide Malaysia, which works on a variety of projects to help marginalised communities with specific core necessities.

What’s next?

For now, the events are held in the Klang Valley, but Grace says they are getting multiple requests to do events in Penang, Johor, and Singapore, so they are considering running quick tests over there before the end of this year.

“We are also diversifying our events to make friends called Socials (open to both single and taken people), a women’s support group called Girls’ Circle, which will eventually expand to men support groups, dating/relationship coach services, partnerships with mental health institutions and professionals and more,” said Grace.

Visit The Date Well Project’s website or follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok to find out more.