AFTER Donald Trump was elected president, Maple Match, an online dating app which connects Canadians and Americans, was inundated with people signing up. The app promised to make it easy for Americans to find a Canadian partner to save them from the “unfathomable horror” of a Trump presidency. Joe Goldman, the app’s Texas-based founder, says it has taken on the perceived ethos of Canada: welcoming, open and tolerant. “We’re building bridges when people are talking about building walls and our users like that.”

TrumpSingles.com is forging connections, too. Its founder, David Goss, wants to make it easier for Trump supporters to find each other. The site’s earliest users were in Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia, which are Democratic strongholds. Now its users are in every state. They are also signing up from abroad, including in Britain and in Russia. Mr Goss and his team personally approve each of the site’s 26,000 users to weed out trolls. The site was able to increase its monthly fee from $4.95 to $19.95 in December following Mr Trump’s election victory. It enjoyed a bump in users even after the price increase. Mr Goss is expecting to hear from Mr Trump, since he is making money from his name.

Online giants such as Match.com, Bumble and Tinder cater for absolutely everyone. That has left lots of room for “niche” providers: there are dating sites for every lifestyle, including ones for vegans, Disney fans and farmers. Entrepreneurs now see opportunity in ideological matchmaking. People used to avoid talking about politics on dates, but political preferences have become a romantic deal-breaker on a par with smoking habits. According to “Singles in America”, a report from Match.com, people who bring up political leanings and agree on them during the first date have a 91% chance of getting to a second. Some sites go well beyond party allegiances and dig deep into each user’s policy preferences. CandiDate, a non-partisan dating site, asks its members where they stand on issues ranging from the Keystone XL pipeline to Obamacare.

Making money is difficult, however. It is hard for new businesses to charge subscription fees while building brand awareness. ConservativesOnly (whose tagline is “Because liberals just don’t get it”) temporarily suspended its fees during the election cycle to try and drive traffic. Some instead rely on targeted advertising. To be successful, niche dating sites need critical mass and a mobile platform,” says Mark Brooks of Courtland Brooks, an online-dating consultant.

Not every site will survive this political cycle. Building a business around a failed candidate can be particularly tricky. BernieSingles, which brought together fans of Bernie Sanders, a presidential hopeful, is itself on a break. It hopes to rebrand itself as a site for progressive singles, and relaunch in April. Many would be sorry to see the back of its memorable catchphrase: “the 1% are not the only ones getting screwed this election season.”