We wanted dating
to feel human again.
So in 2018 we set out one table, two chairs and a pot of kopi at a flea market, and asked a stubborn little question: what if dating was less about algorithms, and more about people?
As featured in
“Kopi dates hit a sweet spot, with hundreds signing up.”The Straits Times · 2019
As heard onThe Usual PlaceThe Straits Times podcast
Dating got fast. Transactional. A little lonely, if we're honest.
Endless swiping that rarely meant much. Mass mixers and superficial comparisons. Somewhere in there it stopped feeling human, and we were stubborn enough to think there had to be a slower, kinder way to meet someone real.
01How it started
How Kopi Date started
We came to believe something simple, and a little stubborn: love is a skill. Which means it can be learned.
We're Zhiqun and Jing Lin, the two behind Kopi Date. It started, honestly, because we were tired of how dating had become: fast, transactional, a bit disappointing. So over a lot of kopi, we kept circling the same question: what if all you really needed was a safe space, a warm cup of coffee, and the nerve to show up as yourself?
In 2018 we tested it at Carouselland, an outdoor flea market. One table, two chairs, reserved for two strangers to sit down and actually talk. Phones away, no profiles to swipe. No pressure to perform. People didn't want to leave! And that tiny setup became Kopi Date.
The deeper we went, the clearer one thing got: who you date matters far less than how you date. So that's what we decided to build for. Not the perfect match, but the way two people meet.
02The two of us
We're Kopi Date's first success story
We didn't begin as a couple. We began as friends, building this together.
What brought us together wasn't a spark. It was friendship. Years of doing things together, the fun and the hard, bumping into our differences and slowly learning to celebrate them. The same work we now help our members through.
Somewhere in all of that, we grew in love. In the most literal sense, we're Kopi Date's first success story.
03What we are
What Kopi Date is: a curated dating experience, not an app, not an agency
Most platforms hand you options and stop there. We hand-pick the date, then help you get better at the whole thing.
Curated experience
We hand-pick your dates and the cafés, so you can skip the swiping and the guesswork and just show up. No algorithms deciding who's worth your time. Real people, chosen with care.
Guided growth
After dates, we listen, then share honest feedback, the kind a good friend gives you and no app ever will. We point you to resources grounded in real research, so every date teaches you something, whether there's a second one or not.
Curation without growth is just matchmaking. Growth without real dates is just self-help. Kopi Date is where the two meet.
04What we do
Who you date matters.
How you date matters more.
It starts with who. We hand-pick the person across the table: someone whose values and warmth you'll genuinely click with. But who you meet is only the start; how you show up matters more. Open, honest, emotionally grown-up: that's the part most people skip, and the part we quietly shape. The rest is serendipity, and we leave as little to it as we can. The 90% that's in your hands is what we obsess over.
05The road so far
Building a healthier dating culture since 2018
One table at a flea market. Two chairs, a pot of coffee, and a question: what if dating could feel human again?
We turned that table into a practice: 5,000+ hours with singles, 80+ research papers, and work alongside relationship scientists.
Kopi Date grows beyond a single market, and we celebrate our first weddings between people who met through us.
Still here, still learning, still building toward a healthier, kinder way to date.
06Our promise
Our promise to you
Let's keep it real for a moment. We're far from a flawless company, and we're still figuring plenty out. But we genuinely care, and people come before profit here.
We can't promise everyone walks away in a relationship. No one honestly can. But here's what we do guarantee: come open-minded and willing to learn, and you'll grow. You'll leave seeing dating, and yourself, in a different light.
For what it's worth: 82% of our members tell us they're open to a second date.
07An honest fit
Who Kopi Date is for
This is for you if…
- You're tired of repeating the same patterns with different people.
- You want to build something long-term, not just meet more people.
- You'll look at your own blind spots, not just blame the bad dates.
Probably not, if…
- You want dating effortless and purely chemistry-driven.
- You believe the right person alone will make it all work.
- You'd rather not reflect on your own patterns, or you're dating casually, for now.
Not you? No hard feelings. We'd rather be honest than be for everyone.
If you're tired of dating that goes nowhere and ready to do this differently. Pull up a chair. 🪑 The kopi's warm, and we'll be right here.
