Let’s face it, modern dating isn’t exactly easy… Let’s break down the options in 2026…
Option 1) meet in the wild
in between juggling hobbies, killing it in our careers, trying to maintain a social life, running anything longer than a bath every now and again and generally trying to hold it together, finding time to date is hard. Time in the pub is time spent with friends rather than trying to awkwardly suss out who’s single and none of us have made eye contact on the tube since about the 1950’s. The likelihood of meeting someone organically is sadly, relatively slim.
Option 2) dating apps
in principle, these sound like a great idea. A yellow pages of single people, within a certain age range and radius of you, that you can access from your smartphone. The reality however is getting met by constant paywalls, pressure to “upgrade for more matches!!!” and ultimately a culture where feelings are disposable and it’s all just pretty bloody tiring.
Option 3) dating events
pay £20 to get thrown into a bar with a sticky floor and light scent of warm jagerbomb, with 300 other single people, ranging from ages 21 and up. Who are you compatible with? No idea darling, you’ll need to go and speak to every person in there to find out. So even if the love of your life is in there, and you somehow found time to have a good conversation with every single person in the room, there’s a one in three hundred chance of you finding them. Similar odds to squid games xx
Option 4) Haystack
We take the logic the dating apps should be using and create in real life events that connect you directly with groups of people who you’re compatible with. We studied the parameters that lead to meaningful connections and built an in-house python based algorithm that identifies similarities using a points based system. We run the algorithm and on the evening connect you with a table/s of people that are age appropriate, your sexuality, have similar values and interests and are single.
We train and hire incredible reps as floating, subtle wingmen to help facilitate introductions for people who want them and to date we’ve re-invested thousands of pounds into event entertainment, hiring everything from entire arcades to mariachi bands, mini golf courses and beyond.
One evening, multiple opportunities to meet compatible people and a great night either way. All delivered by a very small, very passionate team with an unhinged obsession with love, lol.
Questions? Please reach out, we’d love to chat!
Lucy, Emily and Matcha (our office dog x)
aka, team Haystack xx
