Why more singles are investing big in finding love

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But the way in which they came to find themselves at that bar was far from typical.

Their meeting was orchestrated by professional matchmaker Lauren Hunter, with the service appealing to them both as busy small business owners.

“Obviously, everyone has to have an attraction. But it was about compatibility. I wanted someone motivated, with a good brain … that’s exactly what he was. It just was a click,” says Tirosh.

Buchanek had recently moved back to Melbourne and was ready to settle down when he heard about Hunter through a friend. He had previously used another matchmaking service, but says its use of a computer algorithm meant matches were unsuitable.

And while Buchanek, 31, had initially specified he wanted a younger woman, his instant connection with Tirosh, 33, changed his mind.

Tirosh said a personalised service meant he ended up being matched with someone whom he might not have been connected with based on algorithms alone.

While neither wished to disclose the amount paid to Hunter, Buchanek said pricing was very reasonable and saved him money by sparing him from expensive, potentially unsuccessful dates.

The matchmaker

Hunter is one of a number of professional matchmakers in Australia. She is the head of the Australian division of Cinqe, a dating service which bills itself as a “global leader in luxury dating management”.

Cinqe offers a free tier, which does not guarantee a match, and a premium tier costing upwards of $15,000 in which Hunter stays on retainer as your own personal matchmaker.

She says she receives 30 to 50 inquiries a day, with Sunday being her busiest time.

Her core clientele is the “40 to 60-year-old man that has been married, has established a career and wants to blend or have another family”, but her clientele runs the gamut of singles across Australia, from 21-year-olds to 85-year-olds.

Hunter’s role also involves boosting singles’ morale before a first date and advising on everything from what to wear to how to send the perfect text.

While Cinqe requires potential members to include photos and salary in their application, Hunter says she looks at more than just surface-level qualities to choose what she calls “high value” people.

“Looking at men, if they’re coming and talking negatively about their ex-wives or not paying child support [for example], that’s not high value,” she says.

The matchmaking industry is an unregulated one, but Hunter, who has been professionally matchmaking since 2024, believes her lifelong knack for pairing up friends and a degree in psychology have been key to success.

Portolan has her reservations about the industry, given its lack of regulation. She advises people to do their “due diligence, back checking a potential matchmaker’s credentials and making sure they are the type of person you want to put your faith in”.

The coach

Susie Kim, a relationship and dating coach based in Sydney, also says demand for her services is growing. She offers one-on-one sessions as well as a six-week group program, with prices starting at about $3000. The aim is to address underlying issues in people’s dating lives.

“It’s still quite a new-ish concept, but compared to five years ago, it’s a more familiar concept, this idea of, ‘I’ve got a problem in this area, so why wouldn’t I hire a specialist?’” she says.

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Kim works with singles, couples and people of all sexual orientations and genders, but her core demographic is professional women in their 30s.

Alongside growing dating app fatigue, Kim, who has a master’s degree in counselling, thinks demand for her services is driven by the increasingly crowded relationship advice space, often populated by dubious voices.

TikTok is rife with dating tips, while more members of Gen Z are turning to ChatGPT for relationship advice or AI for help on dating apps.

“We are bombarded, especially women who consume a lot of this content, with so many how-to’s and what-not-to-dos and all of that kind of stuff,” Kim says.

“What I see is sometimes people are taking in the wrong information, or they don’t really know how to apply the information, or they’re using it as an excuse to cover up their underlying unavailability.

“We work on what is driving you to make the choices you’re making, choose the kinds of people that you’re choosing, and basically, how are you filtering for the kinds of people that you’re filtering for such that you’re having unsatisfying experiences.”

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