The Dating Lab

What The Dating Lab does

The Dating Lab, operating as Dating Lab Limited (Jersey company no. 89122, registered office at 13 Castle Street, St Helier), is a B2B white-label dating platform provider for media companies and membership organisations. The company has operated for approximately 25 years and powers more than 40 live dating brands serving around 12 million members globally, including Telegraph Dating, SMH Dating, Mirror Match, The Age Connect, and Independent Dating. Its core product is an end-to-end white-label stack comprising a two-way matching engine, messaging, search, and discovery, fully branded for each partner.

The platform's technical components include a multicurrency, PCI-DSS compliant payment platform with fraud detection, refunds, and chargeback management; a trust and safety system built around trained human moderators handling profile vetting, photo verification, and fraud screening; and an analytics and CRM layer tracking acquisition, conversion, retention, and lifetime member value. The company employs 51–100 people, with an operational base in Cape Town and a multilingual partner-facing website in English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Dutch, and French.

Revenue is generated through a subscription/recurring model in which Dating Lab Limited centralises billing on behalf of media partners and shares in monetisation across publisher, broadcaster, lifestyle-magazine, and membership-organisation segments. Partnerships follow a structured four-step process (Discover, Configure, Launch, Grow) with weekly performance reviews and dedicated account management. No public revenue, funding, M&A, or ownership disclosures exist in the available source material, and the company remains privately held under founder/operator ownership with David Burstein as CEO.

Name

The Dating Lab

Legal name

Dating Lab Limited

Website

https://thedatinglab.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

The Dating Lab is a B2B white-label dating platform provider that powers 40+ dating brands for media companies, publishers, broadcasters, and membership organisations globally, serving approximately 12 million members across 10 countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Cape Town

HQ country

South Africa

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. White-label Platform Services: The Dating Lab operates as a B2B platform provider, powering dating sites for media partners. Revenue is generated through subscription and billing services managed on behalf of partner brands. Customer billing is centralised in Dating Lab Limited.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

The Dating Lab supplies a fully managed white-label online dating platform to media companies and publishers. Partners contribute audience and brand identity while The Dating Lab delivers platform infrastructure, registration, two-way matching, messaging, search, discovery, multicurrency PCI-DSS compliant payment processing, fraud detection, human-moderated Trust & Safety, and analytics-driven retention tooling. The platform currently powers 40+ live dating brands serving approximately 12 million members worldwide.

Product overview

The Dating Lab operates as a B2B white-label dating platform provider serving media companies and publishers. The core offering is a unified white-label dating platform providing two-way matching, messaging, search, discovery, payment processing (multi-currency, PCI-DSS compliant), and Trust & Safety features (human moderation, profile vetting, photo verification, fraud screening). Growth tools include analytics, lifecycle emails, CRM, push notifications, and re-engagement. The platform powers over 40 live brands including Telegraph Dating, SMH Dating, Mirror Match, The Age Connect, Independent Dating, and Express Yourself, collectively serving approximately 12 million members. Partnerships follow a 4-step process: Discover, Configure, Launch, and Grow.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• DatingLab: The trading name appearing on bank and card statements for the dating services they operate.

Products and services

• The Dating Lab White-Label Dating Platform A turnkey white-label online dating platform for media companies and publishers, featuring a two-way matching engine, messaging, search, and discovery features. Delivers end-to-end branding with platform, infrastructure, and operational support for media partners.
• Telegraph Dating White-label dating brand operated for The Telegraph media company, providing dating services to The Telegraph's readership under the Telegraph Dating name.
• SMH Dating White-label dating brand operated for the Sydney Morning Herald media company, providing dating services to the SMH readership.
• Mirror Match White-label dating brand operated for the Daily Mirror newspaper, providing dating services to its audience.
• The Age Connect White-label dating brand operated for The Age newspaper in Australia, providing dating services to the publication's readership.
• Independent Dating White-label dating brand operated for The Independent newspaper, providing dating services to its readership audience.
• Express Yourself White-label dating brand operated as part of the Express newspaper group, providing dating services to its audience.

Quantifiable outcome

• 40+ live dating brands operated
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• The TelegraphcoreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerThe Telegraph publishes Telegraph Dating, a white-label dating service powered by The Dating Lab's platform infrastructure, providing dating services to The Telegraph's readership audience.
• Daily Mirror (Mirror Match)coreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerThe Daily Mirror offers Mirror Match, a white-label dating platform powered by The Dating Lab, serving the newspaper's audience with branded dating services.
• Independent (Independent Dating)coreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerThe Independent newspaper operates Independent Dating, a white-label dating service powered by The Dating Lab platform.
• Fairfax Media (SMH Dating, The Age Connect)coreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerFairfax Media operates SMH Dating for Sydney Morning Herald and The Age Connect for The Age, both white-label dating platforms powered by The Dating Lab infrastructure.
• Classic FMcoreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerClassic FM broadcaster offers a dating service powered by The Dating Lab, extending engagement with their radio audience through a branded dating platform.
• EncountersminorOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerEncounters is a dating brand operated by The Dating Lab, serving as an example of their platform capabilities in the dating market.
• Express YourselfminorOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerExpress Yourself is a dating brand operated by The Dating Lab, demonstrating the company's ability to create distinct branded dating experiences.
• WeMatchminorOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerWeMatch is a dating service brand operated by The Dating Lab for media partners.
• Love2MeetminorOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerLove2Meet is a dating service brand operated by The Dating Lab.
• DatingBuzzminorOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerDatingBuzz is a dating service brand operated by The Dating Lab.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Match Group: World's largest dating company (Match, Tinder, Hinge, OkCupid) with white-label and emerging-platform offerings serving media brands. Comparable as a deep-pocketed incumbent whose product and data advantages raise the bar for white-label vendors.
• Cupid Media: Operates a portfolio of niche dating sites across geographies. Comparable as an established dating operator with vertical/community focus analogous to white-label partner brands.
• Bumble Inc. Public dating and connection platform (Bumble, Badoo) with growing enterprise and platform capabilities. Comparable as a broad incumbent whose product investments shape dating user expectations and challenge white-label partners.
• ParshipMeet Group: European dating operator (Parship, EliteSingletons, MeetMe) with white-label and partnership offerings for media brands. Comparable as a larger-scale dating operator expanding into B2B/infrastructure services.

Direct peers

• Together Networks: Operates a portfolio of niche and white-label dating sites across multiple verticals and geographies. Comparable because it sells/operates partner-branded dating platforms with similar infrastructure and audience-monetisation play.
• White Label Dating (Global Personals): Pioneer of the white-label dating model for media partners, powering dating brands globally. Closest direct comparable on the white-label partner-publisher dating model that Dating Lab competes with.
• Venntro: White-label dating platform provider operating a global network of partner-branded dating sites for publishers and niche communities. Direct competitor in the B2B white-label dating model Dating Lab uses.

Regional players

• Infostream Group / Maristella: Operator of regional white-label dating platforms primarily in Eastern Europe and CIS markets. Comparable as a regional white-label competitor serving similar media and community partner models.

Others

• Telegraph Media Group (Strategic Customer / Adjacent): Large UK national newspaper and current Dating Lab partner (Telegraph Dating). Comparable as a strategic buyer-side customer and as an example of the kind of publisher considering in-housing its dating product, which would be a competitive threat.

Emerging players

• BetterDate: Smaller white-label and turnkey dating platform vendor targeting publishers and niche communities. Competes in the same white-label segment as Dating Lab, generally at a smaller scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/thedatinglab

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Dating Lab