Social Discovery Group, the company behind Dating.com and DateMyAge.com, announced it’s launched a venture studio that aims to “transform virtual intimacy into the new normal” by backing early-stage startups in AI-powered communication, XR advancements, and social discovery platforms.

Called SDG Lab, the group has pledged an annual investment of $20 million by providing a “straightforward” fundraising process, wherein entrepreneurs can secure seed funding for product development and additional capital for scaling.

SDG Lab’s most notable investments include virtual dating platform ‘VR Chat&Date’, and niche-based dating apps Kiseki, Flure, and AstroLove.

Led by Alex Kudos, former CMO of Social Discovery Group, SDG Lab is also providing startups building social discovery and connection technologies with resources, such as legal assistance, back-office support, tech infrastructure, and marketing expertise.

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“Social interaction is evolving, and digital intimacy is the next frontier,” said Alex Kudos, CEO of SDG Lab. “At SDG Lab, we’re not just funding ideas—we’re co-creating the future of human connection. By investing in and partnering with bold entrepreneurs, we are building technologies that make meaningful relationships possible, no matter where people are in the world.”

“Virtual relationships and AI-driven connections are no longer science fiction—they are a fundamental part of our digital lives,” added Kudos. “SDG Lab is building the next generation of products that will shape how people connect, engage, and build relationships online.”

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Scott Hayden
Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • MRBeast

    Cringe Vibes

  • Stephen Bard

    This article comes closer than these VR websites normally do to acknowledging that one of the most common uses of VR is for VR Porn, which is far more dramatically "porny" than flat porn. Ask any high school kid who has a headset. There are endless sites with recorded VR porn clips kindly categorized, but if you want to properly understand the "virtual intimacy" mentioned in this article, in your headset go to a site called "VRPorn", skip the recorded stuff and click on the completely free "VR Cams" in the upper right. Here you will find a great variety of mostly women on live cameras in various states of undress. So many of them are giving away their most intimate moments that you don't need to actually pay for "private sessions" or "teledildonics"!

    • Foreign Devil

      Now cue the virtue signallers.

    • Totally agree about the importance of porn. BUT "intimacy" in this case has another meaning. They are funding dating apps, not apps that make you go beyond that…

    • Alex Kudos

      Thanks! Appreciate your feedback

  • Could not agree more!
    Take me, for instance ….
    I make sex-sex with a lady.
    No, really!
    Well she doesn't live here, she lives in Canadia, right?
    And then one time, right, she stole money from her Mom's purse, right?
    And then she brought drugs and we took marihuana ….

  • BabyFaceMonster

    20m for something stupid
    Vr dead

  • BananaBreadBoy

    "Virtual intimacy"…is that things like VRChat adjacent stuff like Flirtual or Nevermet? I've never even heard of AstroLove and Kiseki, and none of it seems to use virtual reality. And literally what is "VR Chat&Date"? It doesn't even show up anywhere!