Ashantia Clarke develops 876-My Match dating platform for Jamaican singles

Growing numbers of Jamaicans rely on overseas dating platforms to meet partners, yet Ashantia Clarke argues that local singles need a service built around how they live and relate—not only where they are on the map. That conviction drove her to launch 876-My Match, a dating application aimed at Jamaicans and shaped by culture, identity, and safety.

Clarke traced the concept to a gap she saw in widely used apps such as Tinder, which she said are built mainly for a worldwide user base rather than Jamaican experience. "Most of these platforms are designed for a global audience, but I wanted to build something that feels like home and has our community involved. So that is where 876-My Match started," she said.

In her view, the venture goes beyond pairing people who want romance. Clarke describes it as local technology that can draw Jamaicans into a setting that feels genuine. "This isn't just about people finding relationships. It is about using technology to bring Jamaicans together in a way that no existing platform has done before," she said.

One problem she set out to sidestep was new local members being flooded with profiles from distant countries with little tie to Jamaica. She said 876-My Match is structured to mirror Jamaican identity and how people move between parishes—for instance, showing that someone born in Kingston now lives in Portland.

Safety also shaped the design. Clarke said members must submit identification, which she personally checks before accounts go live. The app further relies on phone-number verification to curb multiple registrations under one number. "I don't want people to feel as if they are not safe. That is why I made them use their phone numbers. Once they create the profile with the number, they can't use the number for anything else," Clarke added.

She said the platform also deploys artificial intelligence (AI) tools to flag duplicate or suspicious behaviour. "It has a little bit of AI help. It will catch redundancy if you are creating multiple dating profiles. It will actually block you, delete you and hinder you from recreating existing profiles," she said.

Clarke did not enter tech through a childhood dream but through circumstance. After school she hoped to study architecture, construction, and building logistics and applied to Excelsior Community College for architecture and construction technology. Money pressures pushed her into information technology (IT) instead. "Looking back, that wasn't a bad decision," she said.

She has since completed associate and bachelor's degrees in IT, holds project-management certification, and works at Excelsior Community College as a computer laboratory technician. "I am a person who enjoys problem-solving, whether it is repairing devices, graphic designing or just working in the IT aspect," she said. "I like creating solutions that improve people's lives."

Developing the app, Clarke acknowledged, proved demanding. She faced repeated hurdles, with some features requiring months of study and fine-tuning. "It is a lot. If you don't know what you are doing, and even what you think you know, you have to research it again."

For Clarke, the work has grown into more than a dating product. "With this project, it motivates me even more to bring across to young girls across Jamaica that innovation doesn't happen overseas alone. We can do it ourselves, and the talent is right here in Jamaica," she said. "I want people to think of it as somewhere Jamaicans can connect. Innovation doesn't have to come from Silicon Valley," Clarke added.