Dating app Once has acquired Pickable, a dating app which prioritises women’s privacy and provides them with 100 per cent anonymity. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but the acquisition has resulted in the formation of the Once Dating Group.

Pickable – which has amassed 1m global users since its launch late last year – doesn’t require any signup, photos, names, ages, or descriptions from women, meaning nobody will ever know they’re on the app. Men have to upload a picture and set themselves as ‘pickable’ for a certain amount of time, then they just wait for women to reach out to them with chat requests.

“Joining the Once family will enable us to scale-up and introduce the Pickable concept to more people in more countries faster,” said Clémentine Lalande, CEO of Pickable. “Our teams complement each other perfectly and we share common visions and values. The formation of the Once Dating Group will certainly shake up the dating industry.”

The acquisition of Pickable by Once, which itself boasts 10m users around the world, comes as it plans to introduce new dating propositions for specific audiences, including middle-aged and LGBT+, with the aim of solving the issues that dating apps face.

“Once has enjoyed global success since its inception four years ago,” said Jean Meyer, founder and CEO of the Once Dating Group. “This is because we stay true to our core focus – of developing innovative and unique dating propositions that creatively solve important issues, whilst making romance blossom. Pickable has a clearly defined user offering and has seen impressive traction since its launch and fits our ethos perfectly.”