Southeast Asian dating company Lunch Actually Group is continuing to expand its portfolio in the region, with the acquisition of Indonesian dating service Setipe.
Launched in October 2013, Setipe is a matchmaking service for Indonesian singles that has over 800,000 members and has created 200 “documented” marriages.
Founders Razi Thalib and Kevin Aluwi created the platform specifically for the Indonesian market, taking into account the social stigma towards online dating at the time, by offering singles a private matching service.
After answering a series of questions about themselves, Setipe builds users a personality profile, then matches them with compatible singles using a matchmaking engine that was created with the help of clinical psychologists.
And the Indonesian dating service has now been acquired by Lunch Actually for an undisclosed sum.
With the deal, the founder and CEO of Setipe, Razi Thalib, and his team will join the 110-strong Lunch Actually Group.
Thalib said: “After 3 years in operation, Setipe has gained impressive traction and growth but for us to monetise effectively, Indonesia still requires strong offline services due to low credit card penetration rates and less than half the population having Internet access.
“Lunch Actually Group brings tremendous value to the table by leveraging their vast experience, regional access and together with Setipe provide a comprehensive portfolio of dating services – from offline matchmaking, online and mobile dating app, as well as date coaching services.”
Thalib will remain as CEO of Setipe, while also heading up Lunch Actually Group’s Indonesian operations.
Setipe joins the company’s other brands, which include Lunch Actually, esync, LunchClick and Lunch Actually Academy.
The deal follows Lunch Actually’s acquisition of Thai matchmaking service MeetNLunch in 2015, and Singapore dating app Love Out Loud Asia (LOLA) in 2014.
Violet Lim, CEO and co-founder of Lunch Actually Group said: “We are constantly on the look-out for quality companies to bring on board. With Setipe, we saw great potential for synergy in our respective brands, businesses and company cultures. Having “dated” for more than a year, we are impressed with what Razi and his team have done to grow Setipe and we are excited to have them complement our expansion into Indonesia.
“With Setipe’s strong knowledge of local dating culture and the top-of-mind brand recall for Indonesian singles, topped with our 13 years of experience, regional presence and proven dating offerings, we are confident we can grow our business to an unprecedented level in Indonesia.”
At the end of March this year, Lunch Actually Group branched out into Japan with the launch of a new premium matchmaking service called Tailor – a collaborative effort between Lunch Actually Group and Japanese internet dating company Diverse Co.
Read more about the launch here, and check out Setipe on iOS here.