Bengaluru: Our ventures are a reflection of the ever evolving society and its needs. Bharatmatrimony and Jeevansathi were a huge hit, which took the matrimonial world by storm, with its sheer concept and platform. It was a welcome change from the newspaper ads that was ruling the roost. Now, the new age match makers are speed dating apps and platforms that facilitate the same.

“I started out to help a few friends who were looking for matches and had met close to a hundred people through matrimonial sites, and not managed to find what they were looking for”, says founder Vijendra Dalal of a Bangalore-based venture Life Of Line (LOL). LOL organises speed dating events in cities that gives you a chance to meet people face- to-face and then decide whether to see them again as opposed to rejecting and accepting online profiles. Most often, we meet in the virtual world, chat for days and months together, only to dislike them face-to- face. “In an event such as this, within an hour, you are likely to meet at least eight singles. No one knows your full name, contact details and where you live. No personal questions, particularly ones about a person’s past are to be asked in the eight minutes. Eight minutes is not enough to say you like a person but it is a lot of time to know that you don’t want to see someone again” explains Dalal.

The sites of today, is it a reflection of how far have we come? And what people are looking for? “These sites have given people the freedom to find someone for themselves. Someone who matches their lifestyle, life story. This happened because people have migrated from home to other cities have integrated into a more modern culture. Since now they need to find someone who fits this new life of theirs,these sites have found place as enablers for them.The key change is in the minds of people,” says Abhishek Agnihotri, co founder of footloosenomore.com.