Redefining dates and empowering relationships with just a Telegram channel and a mobile app

Growing up, Raimie Tang’s parents never saw eye to eye. For years, they constantly argued, slept on different beds and did not do anything together.

But about three years ago, things started changing for the better after they realised they might not have much time left with each other due to their old age. They also made a conscious effort to cherish the remaining time they have left. 

While seeing them rekindling the spark in their marriage was nice, Raimie felt a twinge of sadness and disappointment.

“If it was so easy to switch the button to see their relationship in a different light, where did the past 30 to 40 years of unhappiness of fighting and arguments go?” He asked himself.

As someone who has always wanted to make a difference in the world since he was a young boy, the 26-year-old started researching social issues in the world. 

“What I’ve realised is many social issues, like juvenile delinquency, single parent homes, broken families… a lot of these stem from the poor fundamental bond between partners, which has caused the high failure rate of long-term serious relationships,” shared Raimie. 

That led to the final-year student at the National University of Singapore to start a Telegram channel in May 2017 that provides fun dates for couples to enjoy each other’s company. It eventually became known as the company that he runs, dateideas. 

The company’s vision is to empower every serious relationship to become a couple that’s forever in love and, in the long run, inspire a world where broken families and unhappy children cease to exist. 

High quality and enjoyable dates are quintessential to the success of a relationship, enabling couples to be physically present and engaging in meaningful conversations together, explained Raimie. 

“One of the tell-tale signs of a relationship losing its spark is when couples start getting bored with dates. The problem we are solving in the short run is the decreasing quality of dates couples experience the longer they are in a relationship,” said Raimie. 

“It is very aligned with the long-term problem because if we can sustain the quality of dates, the spark is maintained.”

Realising there is significant market potential, Raimie gathered two like-minded friends, Ong Kok Chung and Arvind Ramesh, to co-run the company. 

According to Raimie, dateideas has since grown into the “largest community for couples in Singapore”. Coupled with steady business operations, dateideas is ready to embark on their next step – the launch of its mobile app on Nov 7.

While other dating apps are meant to meet new people, this app features a variety of couple-centric date ideas and is a platform for existing couples to plan the perfect date.

Whether you and your significant other are novelty-seekers or adrenaline junkies, dateideas has something for everyone. 

Each day, new merchants and their novel date packages will be added to the platform and is scheduled to contain over 1,000 couple-curated packages by the third quarter of 2021.

There’s a “search and filter” option which enables users to search by price, category and date (weekday or weekends). Additionally, there’s a shopping cart to allow users to purchase multiple date ideas at once or continue with the purchase at a later date.

The consolidation of payment and enhanced payment support integrated into a single platform is designed to give users a peace of mind while they enjoy a secure shopping experience on the app.

The Telegram channel operates the same way with individual dateideas blasts but will link users to the exact package within the app. 

The mobile app will continue to expand its suite of features in the coming months. Upcoming features include compatibility quizzes for couples, interactive games and micro-learning tools to help improve communication with each other.

“This is a milestone moment, yet it is only the beginning,” said Raimie.

“We have just taken our first baby step towards a lifelong journey of redefining dates and empowering relationships for the millennial generation of couples and beyond.”

You can download the dateideas app from the App Store or Google Play Store here.