Key Takeaways

Selective Search matchmaking service is an example of what can happen when matchmakers embrace luxury while evolving with both tech and humanity in mind. 

Selective Search’s “unparalleled” 89% success rate is bolstered by the company’s impressive growth in 2025. “The firm delivered double digit growth in 2025, significantly outpacing the industry projection of 5.8%,” Selective Search recently announced. 

“Our 25th year allowed us to reflect on the incredible impact of the more than 4,000 lasting partnerships facilitated thus far,” said founder Barbie Adler. “At the same time, we saw more demand for our services than ever.”

According to Adler and CEO Brad Blettner, this increased demand reflects people’s desire for matchmaking firms that provide a highly personalized service. 

Does it really come as a surprise that high net worth individuals are in search of a matchmaking service that treats them like they’re a top priority? Not really. What’s more surprising is how Selective Search has managed to evolve in this brand new world of matchmaking, where clients simultaneously crave and reject tech. 

The key to success from Blettner’s perspective is simple: High-end companies must invest just as much in themselves as in their clients. 

When Tech and Humanity Collide 

When does convenience become laziness, and tech become obstructive? Now more than ever, daters are sick and tired of being promised efficiency and receiving redundant tech tools instead. 

Flawed algorithms, weak security measures, and meaningless app features are just a few glaring reasons why some daters want to return to their in-person matchmaking roots. Selective Search prides itself on its “human-centered” approach to IRL matchmaking, Blettner told DatingNews.

This doesn’t mean Selective Search avoids the benefits of AI. As Blettner told us, Selective Search’s success comes down to its ability to prioritize human connection while harnessing AI behind the scenes. 

“We think of AI and technology as resources to help enable [our matchmakers], bolster their success, and really give them time where time matters: with our clients.”

Selective Search’s success comes down to its ability to prioritize human connection while harnessing AI.

Selective Search uses AI as a tool to foster the trust between the real-life client and the real-life matchmaker — not to replicate trust between a client and an algorithm. 

Selective Search’s matchmakers boast 185 years of collective experience, “13 years on average per matchmaker,” he said. The company wouldn’t have survived this long if it wasn’t able to evolve with the times. 

Clients Crave Highly-Personalized Attention

A common complaint among dating app users is that they feel like a tiny fish in a big pond. How can anyone hope to make an impact when the competition is so stiff? In-person matchmaking doesn’t only promise more intentional dating strategies, but more attention, too, from matchmakers and from dating prospects. 

“Personalization is everything in today’s world for high-net-worth individuals, and that includes finding love,” Blettner said in a press release. Clients willing to pay big bucks for a matchmaker expect a highly customized service that puts their needs first. 

This is where the difference between a dating app and a luxury matchmaking service really stands out. As Blettner put it, high-level matchmaking “is only possible when you break down barriers through human interaction.” 

The key is to “be there” for the client in every step of the matchmaking process — not just during the initial matching, as with most standard dating apps. 

Clients willing to pay for a matchmaker expect a highly customized service that puts their needs first.

What Blettner calls “good, meaningful growth” only happens when clients feel supported at an emotional level. It’s not just about the match, he said. 

It’s about needing a shoulder to lean on when they need a laugh or they need empathy, understanding, and connection, said Blettner. And it’s about sharing what they’re going through in this important part of their life and the decision they’ve made to pursue their life partner.

“That’s where the matchmakers and that human-centered connection really comes in,” he explained.  

“Thanks to our unmatched team of matchmakers … we’re also able to … [be] there with a client every step of the way on their journey,” Blettner said, which helps “ensure they are successful [in] finding a partner.” 

It’s Vital to Invest in Clients And in Talent

When Selective Search calls itself human-centered, it’s not only referring to its dedication to its clients, but to the people behind the scenes who keep the company sharp. The company’s success comes from its investment in its own personnel, including in recruitment and tech. 

After all, it’s the humans on both sides of the matchmaking journey who make the process emotionally fulfilling. “We believe that our matchmakers and our talent overall is one of the reasons that we really truly differentiate and compete in this space,” Blettner told us. 

From matchmakers to recruiters to tech experts behind the scenes, every employee helps carry the company to success. “When I think statistically about where our business is … it really comes down to really good intentionality and knowing the business that we want to be in,” Blettner explained.

Selective Search makes sure its employees are all onboard with its luxurious approach to matchmaking. It isn’t a matchmaking service for the average person, and it doesn’t want to be. Instead, it’s for high net worth individuals willing to pay whatever it takes to find a perfect match. 

Adler, who founded Selective Search in 2000, believes the company will only continue to raise the bar. “We were thrilled to help a growing number of individuals find their potential partner through our rigorous, proprietary and human-driven process ,and look forward to continuing to do so for many more years to come,” she said.