OPW – Thursday COO Brenton Bright recently spoke about the company’s focus on in-person dating experiences and the growing shift toward offline social connection.
Category: Thursday
Thursday Reaches $50M Valuation, Sets $500M Target and Acquires thursday.com Domain
LINKEDIN – George Rawlings, co-founder of Thursday, shared that the company has now reached a $50M valuation. The original goal was to achieve this within one year, but it ultimately took three. He also outlined a new target: a $500M valuation within the next five years. Alongside the announcement, Thursday has acquired the thursday.com domain and opened a Series A round for individuals and funds interested in brand and consumer tech.
Thursday Partners With PepsiCo on Branded Singles Event
LINKEDIN – Thursday has partnered with PepsiCo to launch a branded singles night in London this February, combining an in-person dating event with Pepsi-branded cocktails. The event is designed as a structured IRL social format, with guided seating, short dating games, and limited capacity, and will take place at The Ministry in Borough. The collaboration follows a similar offline brand move announced last week, when Tinder revealed a large-scale European partnership with Sprite, placing the Tinder logo on hundreds of millions of cans across select markets.
Thursday and Femfresh Team up for Bold London Billboard Campaign
LINKEDIN – Dating app Thursday and intimate care brand Femfresh launched a bold billboard campaign across London this week. The collaboration links Thursday’s real-life dating events with Femfresh’s message of confidence and freshness, using cheeky, direct messaging to turn heads.
Curated by the Courtland Brooks team
Thursday Launches in Dubai, Expands Across MENA
LINKEDIN – Thursday has launched in Dubai, with Abu Dhabi, Marrakech, and Casablanca to follow. The first event is in two weeks. 113 of 150 tickets already sold, so capacity is being increased. The team is now based in Dubai to lead the MENA rollout, working with Solutions Group and others across venues, hospitality, and fitness. The target is to reach 20K monthly attendees across IRL events in the region by year-end.
Thursday Launches in Its 100th City
LINKEDIN – Thursday, the London-based dating start-up, has officially launched in its 100th city – a major milestone for the company. Originally launched in 2021, Thursday set out to change online dating by limiting activity to just one day a week, reducing dating fatigue and encouraging real-world meetups. The company is now changing its focus toward Thursday Events, offering weekly ticketed experiences across the globe to foster more real-life connections. Co-founder Matthew McNeill Love reflected on the milestone, noting the growing importance of real human connection in an increasingly automated world. "The bigger AI gets, the more valuable real human connection becomes," he shared. "They're not in conflict – they're growing together."
How Marketing & Gamification Derailed the Dating Industry
THE CURRENCY – The dating industry is at a crossroads. User growth has plateaued. Apps paired addictive features with culturally resonant marketing. Tinder is synonymous with modern dating. Bumble is the feminist alternative. The pandemic was a renaissance for dating apps. “Never were people more aware of their singleness than during Covid. There was this horrible effect, this extended period where people were acutely aware they were alone,” noted Mark Brooks, a veteran strategic advisor to the dating industry. “We’re now seeing a return to pre-pandemic growth patterns, but without the same user enthusiasm,” he added.
Swiping prioritizes quantity over quality, with endless matches but few meaningful connections. This gamified approach led to singles criticizing for failing to deliver genuine connection. Court cases have tarnished the industry, and allegations of fake profiles and data misuse deepened consumer mistrust, leading to disillusionment and “dating fatigue”. Thursday hosts casual mixers and quirky speed-dating sessions and announced the closure of its core app, citing “rapidly declining consumer interest in dating apps” and is “doubling down” on in-real-life dating. Mark Brooks’s take is: “Thursday is drawing people who are real-world-oriented, not so inclined towards online dating.”
A lack of innovation has left the door wide open for social media platforms to enter the arena. Blazr, for the cannabis-friendly community, is a prime example, with 130k users. FarmersOnly caters to rural daters. The platforms that succeed will be those that prioritize meaningful connections, position themselves as lifestyle brands, and rebuild consumer trust.
by Andrea Linehan
See full article at The Currency
Mark Brooks: This will be the hot topic at the upcoming Global Dating Insights conference in NYC on Wed 19th March, and at the LTR (Love, Technology, Relationships) online mini-conference on Wed 2nd April.
See the top news on Thursday See the top news on Bumble
See all posts on FarmersOnly See the top news on Tinder
Thursday Dating Brings IRL Matchmaking to Calgary
CALGARY JOURNAL – Thursday Dating, a global matchmaking service, is launching in Calgary as an alternative to dating apps. Instead of swiping, singles meet in real-life events hosted in local venues. The service aims to combat dating fatigue caused by ghosting and repetitive online conversations.
Thursday Shuts Down Dating App to Focus on Events and New Ventures
CITY AM – Thursday, a London-based start-up founded by George Rawlings, launched its dating app in 2021 with a simple idea: it only works on Thursdays. The app was designed to tackle "dating fatigue" by limiting activity to one day a week, encouraging quicker decisions and real-life meetups. Now, the company is shifting its focus to Thursday Events, where users can buy tickets to weekly events around the world. They’re also planning to expand their trips division, launch in new countries, and introduce a clothing line.
Best Nights VC: Investing in Online Dating With Offline Focus
GLOBAL VENTURING – Best Nights VC, Mast-Jägermeister's venture arm, targets startups that bridge the gap between online interactions and real-world connections. Their portfolio includes Thursday, a dating app that operates exclusively on Thursdays to encourage real-life meetups and other social platforms like Lex and 222 that foster meaningful in-person interactions.
by Fernando Moncada Rivera
See full article at Global Venturing