ecosystem / people / markus-frind
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Markus Frind

Founder, Plenty of Fish

ConsumerVancouver

Markus Frind is the founder of Plenty of Fish, the Vancouver dating site he started in February 2003. He was its CEO when Match Group bought it for $575 million USD in July 2015. Cymax Group's leadership page, checked in September 2026, lists him as chief executive officer of the furniture e-commerce company, a role announced in March 2024.

Markus hasn’t spoken on a TechTO, TechVancouver or TechWaterloo stage. This profile is here because Markus co-founded Plenty of Fish, which appears in 3 talks in the archive.

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Quick answers

Who is Markus Frind?

The founder of Plenty of Fish. He told The Globe and Mail in October 2017 that he started it in February 2003, and BetaKit reported in July 2015 that the Vancouver-based site "was started by Markus Frind in 2003" when it announced Match Group's all-cash purchase for $575 million USD. BetaKit quoted him at the time as CEO of PlentyOfFish.

How did Markus Frind build Plenty of Fish?

On his own, at first. In his October 2017 Globe and Mail interview he said he wrote the dating site on his home PC in the span of two weeks while learning the ASP.NET programming language, and that he could have given away shares and brought in venture capitalists but instead walked away with $800 million from the Match sale.

What does Markus Frind do now?

Cymax Group's leadership page, checked in September 2026, lists him as chief executive officer and board director; Cymax announced the appointment on March 12, 2024. The same page says he is CEO of Frind Properties and proprietor of Frind Estate Winery in West Kelowna. BetaKit reported in March 2024 that he first invested in Cymax by leading its $30-million Series A in October 2015 and owned roughly 70 percent of the company.

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Maintained by TechTO · facts sourced and dated · last reviewed Sep 13, 2026