I’d love to meet a buyer for my dating app: How a widow’s quest for love led to her tech success

Nicky Wake was just 49 when she lost her husband Andy to Covid.

He had already been ill for three years after suffering major brain damage from a heart attack in 2017.

But when the pandemic hit, Nicky’s world plunged into an even deeper crisis.

“I knew this was the beginning of the end for us,” he told the Mail.

“I knew there was no way I was going to survive that.”

That end came on April 17, 2020, when her partner of 18 years passed away, leaving Nicky locked up alone with her 12-year-old son.

But after a year in a “black hole of grief”, Nicky, now 53, decided it was time to get back out there.

When she signed up for Tinder, Hinge and Bumble, she soon discovered it was a “wild west” scene.

“There were dirty pictures, ghosts and married men. I thought there must be an app for widows,” she said.

In 2022 she decided to take matters into her own hands and created the UK’s first dedicated app for widows: Chapter 2, a space where widows and widowers can connect and find their second love story.

To register, users must provide what is called widowhood verification: a death certificate or memorial page.

In addition to chatting on the app, members are also invited to monthly meetups across the country.

This is a great opportunity to tap into the estimated 3.1 million bereaved couples in the UK.

Chapter 2 currently has 8,000 users, many of whom pay the £34.99 per month subscription fee to be able to match and chat.

And after just 18 months, Wake says there are at least 20 successful couples, plus the first Chapter 2 proposal, with a wedding planned for October.

The oldest member he has ever met is 84 and, according to Wake, is “absolutely fabulous.”

But another key goal is to break taboos about older women.

“I’m 50 years old and I’m in my prime… You’re self-assured and self-aware. You know what you want,” she said.

‘Just because we’re over 50 doesn’t mean we should stop having sex. It’s a very important part of who we are and our identity.

“And it’s wonderful that you can’t get pregnant anymore!” With a combination of her own money and £150,000 from investors, Chapter 2 is due to be released in the US and Australia this week, and in Canada next week.

Chapter 2 is also running advertising campaigns on ITV and various radio stations to drive subscriptions.

Wake said “hundreds of people” have already signed up across the Atlantic to use the app.

But it’s a busy time for Wake, who runs Chapter 2 alongside his events group Don’t Panic Projects, which he created in 2005.

But despite his ambitions for the app, he’s also a realist.

“We are a niche. We will never be Bumble, Hinge or Tinder, we will never try to compete with them,” he said.

But he added: “My plan is to grow it for five years and then hopefully sell it to one of the bigger dating companies.”

And this is a well-trodden path for dating apps, which have gradually been absorbed by companies like Match Group.

However, the heart of Chapter 2 revolves around leaving a legacy for her late husband. “Andy would be so proud that I’ve taken the most devastating and negative thing in the world and created something positive,” she said, adding that she hasn’t found a new partner yet.

“It’s a love letter to a love we could never end,” he said.