The concept of "round robin dating" was founded by Rabbi Yaacov Deyo and his students in Los Angeles, CA as a way of helping Jewish singles meet and marry. Rabbi Deyo coined the word SpeedDating® as the name for these events. The first event took place at Pete’s Café in Beverly Hills in late 1998.

During 1999, the concept was modified – until its current form of 7, 7-minute round robin dates in one night. Today, hundreds of Jews have met and married through this venue – and it has spawned the round robin dating industry for people of all cultural backgrounds.