Once is making waves in the dating app world. Offering the user a completely different experience from the likes of Hinge and Tinder, Once is a dating app that offers you only one match every 24 hours, giving you and your 'match' a whole day to focus on each other and talk to no one else through the site. The app boasts more than 9 million users (as of March 2020), with 9 million dollars raised to date.
The app also has the feature of allowing women (only women) to rate their dates in an effort to tackle the issues of cat-fishing, ghosting, fake photos, pre-date stalking and stranger danger. This new feature gives women the power to: rate the conversation, give feedback on the date and rate the accuracy of photos.
In January 2021, Once was acquired by Dating Group, one of the largest companies in the dating industry with 73 millions registered users across its portfolio. Clémentine Lalande, co-founder and CEO of Once, continues to lead the company.
About the founders/CEO:
Jean Meyer is a serial entrepreneur and business man. Following experience as a software engineer for both AXA Group and BNP Paribas, Jean founded Bankexam and DateMySchool, before founding his most recent venture, Wanted. Jean obtained a Master of Engineering in Computer Science, before attending Columbia Business School, from which he graduated in 2011 with a Master of Business Administration.
Clementine Lalande is now the CEO of Once. She has over a decade of experience in technology and business development. She has also spent time mentoring various start-ups at C-suite level. Before this, Clementine was a venture capital investor and strategic adviser at BCG. Prior to working with Once, Clementine founded Pickable, a new online dating concept, offering women a way to pick up men around them without ever having to expose their identity.