Why doesn’t the online dating industry battle this phenomenon?

It’s simple, fighting misrepresentation is not profitable. Additional security costs and closing the doors to a large portion of your clientele would create huge losses for these corporations. All online dating websites focus on large quantities of members. In an ideal world, online dating would be a perfect solution for today’s busy, career-oriented singles. But that would be the case only if dating sites verified the identity of their members, if there were consequences to lying on your profile, and if they screened their members to prevent disappointments right at the registration stage.

The first website in the world that screens and verifies their members was born right here in Canada, in fact, a group of entrepreneurs from Toronto are taking the first step in creating improved online dating. After a year of research and development they’ve completed Eligon.ca, a private single’s community for executives and high-profile professionals. You apply to this website with a resume, sign a legal agreement stating that all the information you’ve given is true, and give consent to ID verification. At this point they screen their members according to a formula that evaluates eligibility by: level of management, education and, of course, income. If  an applicant is accepted, they verify his or her details with a non invasive ID report from a credit agency alongside other security measures.Alexander Ratz, one of the founders, says “These methods are as close to perfect as we can get,  as we aren’t able to physically see our applicants – but we are doing as much as possible with the means we have available to us today.”
The bad news is that this service is offered to Ontario’s elite only, but plans are in place to launch a Canada wide website by August 2009.
Applying to this club does not cost money. If you are an executive looking  for love you can try your luck here.
Could this be the beginning of a new generation of online dating? For now, all others  have to settle for regular dating websites and hope that soon enough all other sites follow Eligon’s lead.

Ever since man  learned to quantify value in money, blue blood social clubs have existed. Those with money and power liked to be with others who also had money and power. The wealthy are usually  intensely private and try to avoid social climbers, especially when it comes to their love life.

An entire population of CEOs, doctors lawyers and other high profile professionals are staying away from public dating websites to avoid encountering their co-workers, patients or clients, and an altogether lack of likeminded individuals often found on these sites.

Everyday public dating websites, who prefer quantity over quality, do not suit this portion of the population by their very definition: public.

This vacuum gave rise  to eligon.ca, derived from the Latin word ‘eligo’, which means ‘selected.’ This club was created by a Canadian company operating in Ontario, to best cater exclusively to the rich and educated.

Call it eHarmony for the rich: it’s an online dating website that screens its members according to education and income. Alexander Ratz, one of the founders says “We are not snobby, we just want our members to be compatible. Wealthy and educated people are their match and we’re just here to provide the place for them to meet most comfortably.”

Right at the start, from the Homepage, a velvet rope and bouncer atmosphere presides.  The registration process to this site is different than that of others. A member must first apply, providing his employment and education information, agree to verification, and declare that they are who they say they are with a legal statement. If a member is admitted for having a high enough level of education, income and management position, he or she is then required to build a profile and pay a membership fee that is slightly higher than the average on the market.

“Getting the rich to mingle online is not an easy job” says Alexander “we had to build a completely new kind of a website to suit people of this caliber. A series of security measures takes place to secure the privacy of the information and once you’re in, you experience a different kind of a dating site, one that is suited for people that expect and want more.”

Worried you won’t get in? An invitation from a friend who is a member might help.
If this sounds like something that would help you find your elite match visit their executive dating site to learn more about eligibility

Monday June 8th was the official launch of the eligon.ca community. It’s been only two weeks and we’re already seeing some media attention.  Our main goal so far is to establish a large membership base in Ontario, that’s why we’ve decided to give free 1 month memberships until June 31st. This is the stage where we make the best product as a business, and our product is not the very elaborate system or the formula or the website. Our product is the quality of the members, a decent amount of members in your area, and good selection, everything else is overrated.