# Chapter 2 founder says members have invested over $600,000 > By Hayley Birkin | Published: 2026-11-10T03:21:48.444852+00:00 | Section: Financial | Source: https://www.datingindustryinsights.com/news/chapter-2-founder-says-members-invested-over-600000 | Publisher: Dating Industry Insights (High Intent Media Inc) Chapter 2 founder Nicky Wake told Forbes she has raised over $600,000 from members of her widowed-singles dating site and is preparing a new funding round. ## Key points - Forbes reported on 9 November 2026 that Chapter 2 founder Nicky Wake says she has raised more than $600,000 from members of her widowed-singles dating site. - Wake told Forbes that Chapter 2 has 25,000 members in the U.S., U.K., Australia and Canada, and is preparing a new funding round. - Chapter 2 charges $34.99 a month to send and receive messages, and Wake started it with $60,000 in seed money from friends, according to Forbes. - Online Personals Watch, summarising Prolific North, said in September 2026 that Chapter 2 had raised £450K to date and reached break-even for the first time. ## Article - Forbes reported on 9 November that Chapter 2 founder Nicky Wake says she has raised more than $600,000 from the site's own members. - Wake says the site has 25,000 members across the US, UK, Australia and Canada; earlier company-linked figures put membership near 20,000. - Chapter 2 charges $34.99 a month to message, and Wake started it with $60,000 in seed money. - DII has not seen a filing or round announcement confirming the raise. Forbes reported on 9 November that Nicky Wake, founder of widowed-singles site Chapter 2, says she has raised more than $600,000 from the platform's own members after sending them a mailing seeking support. She is now preparing a new funding round, according to the article by Forbes senior contributor Elaine Pofeldt. 'Our biggest supporters are those who use the service,' Wake told Forbes. DII has not seen a funding filing or round announcement, so the figure rests on Wake's own account. ### The DII Take Subscribers who become shareholders are a loyalty signal that no retention dashboard can match, and a sensible answer to a niche too small for most investors. But the numbers around Chapter 2 do not yet reconcile, and a business funded by bereaved members carries a heavier duty of disclosure than most. The next round should come with clear figures. ### Figures that do not yet line up According to Forbes, Wake launched the site on $60,000 of seed funding from a small group of wealthy friends. Forbes says many user-investors have inheritances, and that UK backers want to use a law giving relief from inheritance tax on startup investments. One, Bryan Young, 57, from Columbus, Ohio, invested $60,000 after meeting his fiancée on the site. Forbes quotes Wake on 25,000 members. Chapter 2's own blog in June 2025 said nearly 20,000, and Online Personals Watch, summarising a Prolific North report, said in September 2026 that membership was about 20,000. That summary also said Chapter 2 had raised £450K to date and reached break-even after three months of record revenue. The reports may be consistent, but none of them explains the gap. Chapter 2 is free to join and charges $34.99 a month to send and receive messages. Members must verify widowed status, pass a recorded selfie check that Wake reviews personally, and have their IP address verified, because widowed people are often targeted by fraudsters, according to Forbes. > According to Forbes, Wake launched the site on $60,000 of seed funding from a small group of wealthy friends. ### What to watch Chapter 2's June 2025 blog stated an aim of a strategic exit to a major dating player within three to five years. For scale, [Match Group](https://www.datingindustryinsights.com/companies/match-group) (MTCH) said on 2 November that Tinder daily active users returned to year-on-year growth in September, as [DII reported](https://www.datingindustryinsights.com/news/match-group-reports-tinder-dau-growth-declares-dividend). Chapter 2 operates at a very different size. The test is the new round: its size, its investor count and whether it uses the EIS scheme the company has previously cited. - Member-funded rounds can fund small dating niches, but Chapter 2's raise is so far Wake's own claim to Forbes, not a document. - Conflicting membership figures (25,000 against about 20,000) and funding figures ($600,000 against £450K) need reconciling before the next round. **Sources:** [Be Part of Our Future: The Next Chapter for Chapter Two Dating (Chapter 2 Dating)](https://chapter2dating.app/be-part-of-our-future-the-next-chapter-for-chapter-two-dating/); [Match Group Announces Third Quarter Results (Match Group)](https://ir.mtch.com/investor-relations/news-events/news-events/news-details/2026/Match-Group-Announces-Third-Quarter-Results/); [A Dating Site for Widows Uncovers An Avid Pool of Investors: Its Users (Forbes)](https://www.forbes.com/sites/elainepofeldt/2026/11/09/a-dating-site-for-widows-uncovers-an-avid-pool-of-investors-its-users/); [Chapter 2 Dating Reaches Break-Even After Record Revenue (Online Personals Watch)](https://onlinepersonalswatch.com/2026/09/chapter-2-dating-reaches-break-even-after-record-revenue/) ## Key takeaways - Chapter 2's $600,000 member raise is Nicky Wake's own claim to Forbes, with no filing or announcement seen by DII, so investors should treat it as unverified. - Membership of 25,000 (Forbes) against about 20,000 (Online Personals Watch, September 2026) and $600,000 against £450K raised need reconciling before Chapter 2's next round. - Chapter 2's June 2025 blog stated an aim of a strategic exit to a major dating player within three to five years, so the new round's terms matter to potential acquirers. ## FAQ ### How much has Chapter 2 raised from its members? Forbes reported on 9 November 2026 that founder Nicky Wake says Chapter 2 has raised more than $600,000 from its own users. DII has not seen a filing confirming the figure. ### How many members does the Chapter 2 widowed dating site have? Wake told Forbes the site has 25,000 members in the U.S., U.K., Australia and Canada. Online Personals Watch cited about 20,000 members in September 2026. ### How much does Chapter 2 cost to use? Setting up a profile on Chapter 2 is free. Subscribing to send and receive messages costs $34.99 a month, according to Forbes. ## In this story - [Chapter 2](https://www.datingindustryinsights.com/products/chapter-2) (main subject) - [Nicky Wake](https://www.datingindustryinsights.com/people/nicky-wake) (main subject) - [Online Personals Watch](https://www.datingindustryinsights.com/companies/online-personals-watch) - [Match Group](https://www.datingindustryinsights.com/companies/match-group) - [Tinder](https://www.datingindustryinsights.com/products/tinder) --- Canonical: https://www.datingindustryinsights.com/news/chapter-2-founder-says-members-invested-over-600000 Citation: "Dating Industry Insights" (https://www.datingindustryinsights.com)