Dating Startup MeetMeetNow Builds Immediate In-Person Dates

MeetMeetNow is taking a different approach to app-based dating by removing one of the most common stages of online matchmaking: messaging.

The service, developed by Japanese software engineer Kazuki Nishijima, is built around designated meeting locations where users can match with other members who are physically present. Instead of browsing profiles and exchanging messages before arranging a date, users select a meeting spot, see eligible members at that location and can match in person.

The company says the service operates across more than 4,000 cities in 194 countries. Meeting locations can include public landmarks such as statues, fountains and clock towers. Once matched, users meet face to face rather than continuing the interaction through an in-app chat. This allows for spontaneous matches in public spaces, permitting more flexibility and creating a less immediately intimate atmosphere.

MeetMeetNow uses a subscription model in which men pay a monthly fee while women can use the service without charge. The company says it uses government ID verification, although the practical safety implications of immediate meetings in public places remain an important consideration for the model.

Nishijima says the idea dates back to when he was 17 and saw university students gathering at a statue to meet each other. He began developing the service in 2017 while working alongside other employment, eventually returning to the project more seriously in his twenties.

The concept reflects a broader interest within the dating sector in reducing the amount of time users spend interacting through screens before meeting. Dating apps have increasingly experimented with video calls, events, curated introductions and other features intended to move relationships beyond the traditional swipe-and-chat process. MeetMeetNow takes that trend further by making an in-person meeting the starting point rather than the eventual outcome of a match.

The approach also addresses a recurring complaint about conventional dating apps: users can spend weeks or months messaging someone before discovering that there is little chemistry in person. Nishijima says this experience helped shape the service after a friend spent several months communicating with a match before meeting once and subsequently leaving the app.