SILICON VALLEY BUSINESS JOURNAL - Feb 20 - Tinder is set to take over 30K square feet in a newly built Palo Alto office blocks. The deal represents a major Silicon Valley expansion for Tinder. Tinder currently leases about 1,733 square feet office.
by Janice Bitters
See full article at Silicon Valley Business Journal
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EXCHANGE4MEDIA - Feb 21 - Members of BharatMatrimony can now walk into any of Times of India's network of franchisees and subscribe to BharatMatrimony's matchmaking services at a special price.
See full article at Exchange4Media
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LIFEHACKER - Feb 21 - After seeing the toxicity of other dating services, Dawoon Kang created Coffee Meets Bagel as a safer, friendlier alternative. "Dating apps have always had a huge imbalance in gender ratio. Because of that, guys get really frustrated and engage in behaviors that turn off women even more. So we wanted to create a great experience for everyone, and make a platform and experience that appealed to women," she says.
Q: What's your workspace setup like?
A: I have two monitors. My biggest "hack" is to put everything important on the calendar and to follow it to the teeth.
Q: What hacks went into Coffee Meets Bagel?
A: Manpower. In the beginning, everything on Coffee Meets Bagel was done manually. Manual matching. Manual approval. Matching was something that we quickly automated. Manual approving actually went on for quite a while, which was a real pain.
Q: Who are the people who help you get things done?
A: Everyone on my team, of course! I've started outsourcing more things that I know aren't my strengths, or that I simply don't enjoy doing.
Q: Do you have any dating hacks of your own?
A: Start by self-reflecting. We end up wasting a ton of time on the wrong people because we don't know what we want. Additionally, learn how to communicate.
Q: How do you recharge or take a break?
A: Exercise, meditation, and travel.
Q: What's your favorite side project?
A: Pole dancing.
Q: What are you currently reading, or what do you recommend?
A: I just read The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni. It's a GREAT leadership book. I also just started reading The All-or-Nothing Marriage by Eli J. Finkel.
Q: What's the best advice you've ever received?
A: If you do whatever you said you are going to do every day, you will get whatever you said you are going to get.
Q: What's a problem you're still trying to solve?
A: I'm still trying to ensure that all singles out there get to experience connections that inspire them!
by Nick Douglas
See full article at Lifehacker
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ECONOMIC TIMES - Feb 19 - Bumble's aggressive entry into India has made existing players raise their game. Tinder CEO Elie Seidman denies any impact on the market leader. However, Bumble's overall idea of a "social network by women for everyone" has created tremors in the Indian dating app space, where apps, including Tinder, are struggling to get and retain women users. Tinder has a clear advantage, though, being the first mover. In India since 2014, it is the second-best grossing app on Android in India. Bumble has made it to the list of the top 50 highest-grossing apps on Android in India. "Our biggest competitors are actually the moms and friends who help you find a suitable match," insists Elie Seidman.
by Shephali Bhatt
See full article at Economic Times
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SLATE - Feb 19 - Long-term best friends Lindsay Meck and Mika Leonard launched Onward, a breakup concierge service for newly single New Yorkers. Their team will help create a plan for short- and long-term housing, recommend a moving service, set users up with a therapist, or grab boxes from their ex. Services currently start at $100 for 10 days of concierge access.
by Shannon Palus
See full article at Slate
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UNHASHED - Feb 19 - One of the crypto world's biggest Valentine's Day stories has turned out to be largely overblown. The option of buying a membership with crypto isn't actually specific to Tinder. At the heart of the story is Bitrefill, a company that sells vouchers and gift cards that can be purchased with cryptocurrency. The company accepts Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Dash, and Dogecoin as payment. Last week, the company announced the addition of Tinder vouchers to its offerings.
by Mike Dalton
See full article at Unhashed
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6PR - Feb 19 - Lumen, a new dating app for over 50s is launching in Australia. Charly Lester, the creator of Lumen, said there were apps for younger people and even online outlets for over 75s but singles in their 50s and 60s were missing out. The app launched in September 2018 and has already attracted 300K members worldwide.
by Steve Mills & Basil Zempilas
See full article at 6PR
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THE ECONOMIC TIMES - Feb 19 - Primarily marketed to women - specifically those who are already in a relationship - Gleeden was launched in France in 2009 and arrived in India in 2017. Today, it has ~4.9 M registered users globally, mostly from the EU. In India, it has crossed ~300K subscribers within less than two years of its launch. Gleeden.com is run by a female team and is completely free for women users.
See full article at The Economic Times
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THINKNUM - Feb 19 - According to data from OkCupid.com, the hottest times to log into dating apps is from 10:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. GMT. That five hour window is consistently a busy time to be online and looking for love.
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OPW - Feb 18 - In this analysis, which was sponsored by MyLife, you'll learn:
Contact: Jeannette Weinstein, Head of partnerships at MyLife.com at jw@mylife-inc.com
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OPW INTERVIEW - Feb 18 - Rumpur is billed as the first dating app for ethic gay men, a relationship focused service 'without the restraints of discrimination based on race.' Here's what the CEO/Founder Garfield Wright had to say about the app. - Mark Brooks
Why Rumpur?
At Rumpur we recognize that ethnic gay men are faced with racism, discrimination and bigotry on many dating apps and websites. These men are left feeling rejected and debased as human beings. Rumpur was created to level the online dating field for ethnic gay men.
What's your USP
Rumpur is the first American based gay dating app to offer live video chat where users can authenticate each other and talk in real time.
How many daily active users do you have at this stage?
As of this writing, we have a total of 11,904 users. 7953 of such are active users and 5,340 are daily active users.
What funding have you had to date?
To date we haven't sought any funding because we wanted to gain traction before we approach any investors. Now we are gaining traction and growing our user base. We believe now is the right time to seek funding.
What are you plans for the app?
Our plan for the app is to make it the number one app for ethnic gay people in the LGBTQ community throughout the world. Although we started out targeting ethnic gay men we will eventually open up our app to accommodate the entire LGBTQ community such as lesbians, non binaries, etc.
Whats next?
We are gaining traction every day with new users entering our platform. However, we lack the necessary funding to drive growth. We are seeking a seed round in financing to take Rumpur to the next level. The funding will be used to hire a product manager, hire a marketing expert, increase our advertising budget and optimize our app store presence.
What kind of money are you looking for ideally?
We are seeking a seed round of $400,000 to $500,000 for 10% of our company. We understand our target audience and our market and are a very resilient team that can weather the ups and downs of running a startup.
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.com
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WIRED.CO.UK - Feb 15 - In the 1960s, a young social psychologist Arthur Aron was carrying out experimental studies using university students, and brain scans on people who were in love, falling out of love and recently divorced. He became famous for his 36 Questions which is a set of very personal questions people work through with their partner to get closer to each other (fall in love). In the original 1997 study, two of the lab technicians who did the experiment eventually got married. "People thought it couldn't be done," says Aron, who is now a researcher at Stonybrook University in New York. In the last 50 years, we've made real scientific progress towards understanding the processes in our brain that give us that giddy feeling. Helen Fisher, a biological anthropologist at Indiana University's Kinsey Institute, was one of the first to publish research into the processes behind love – how dopamine courses through your brain, which parts light up. She says that the desire to love is a survival mechanism, one which won't be trampled over so easily by new technology. Others, such as sociologists and critical theorists, also argue that young people now aren't so taken in by the traditional ideas of marriage, or even a cultural emphasis on romantic love. "It's fascinating - people who are now in their late teens, early twenties – they do take love and relationships seriously," says Michael Gratzke, a professor of literature at Hull University. "But they're more comfortable with complicated relationships and patterns of love. A lot of the research into how technology has changed relationships is really only starting to be understood," says Gratzke.
by Sanjana Varghese
See full article at Wired.co.uk
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HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW - Jan 11 - Computer matching started 1959. The biggest shift occurred in the mid-1990s, with the birth of online dating. 25% of U.S. couples now meet on the internet. Newer sites made matchmaking tech. an important value proposition. eharmony uses a "scientific approach to matching highly compatible singles" and OkCupid does "a lot of crazy math stuff to help people connect faster." But are the lovelorn better served for it? Upon finding a compatible partner, users typically terminate their subscription, hurting the firm’s revenue, therefore it's unclear whether profit-maximizing sites would strive for the most effective matchmaking technology, or deprioritize innovation. According to game theory, users have a better chance of finding a match in a larger community so as a firm reduces its matchmaking effectiveness, more consumers are left unmatched as time goes by, but their continued presence on the platform benefits the newly arrived consumers. Lesser technology can engender positive network effects for a firm. A commission-based model, in which matchmakers charge users based on successful matches, would align the interests of matchmakers and consumers. High-end matchmaking already operates this way. Where commissions are impractical, matchmakers could charge a sizeable, upfront payment to cover a longer subscription period. The key to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes is to resolve the matchmakers' strategy dilemma, making sure their revenue is not negatively affected by their technology innovations.
by Yue Wu & V. "Paddy" Padmanabhan
See full article at Harvard Business Review
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THINKNUM - Feb 16 - The world of dating apps is dominated by four companies - Match Group, The Meet Group, Badoo and Spark. Here are the four men behind these companies.
Match Group - Barry Diller
Born in San Fran in 1942, 77 year-old Barry Diller is Chairman and Senior Executive of IAC and Expedia. Diller married fashion designer Diane von Fürstenberg in 2001 and is now estimated to be worth $3.3B. He also created the Fox Broadcasting Company and USA Broadcasting. On top of creating his own empire in media, Diller's influence has spread to those who he mentored - colloquially called the "Killer Dillers" - which included former Disney Chairman & CEO Michael Eisner and Dawn Leslie Steel, one of the first woman to become the head of a major movie studio.
The Meet Group - Geoff Cook
Geoff isn't The Meet Group's founder. That honor goes to his younger brother and sister, Dave and Catherine Cook. Dave and Catherine created myYearbook in 2005 as a place for ex-classmates to meet up online. Geoff became the company's power player after investing $250K that he made from his EssayEdge and ResumeEdge startups he created in his Harvard dorm room.
Badoo - Andrey Andreev
Born in February 1974 in Moscow, Russia, Andreev founded Badoo, SpyLog, Begun, and Mamba. He also famously convinced ex-Tinder exec Whitney Wolfe Herd to create Bumble, of which Badoo is a 79% owner. Andreev was recently listed by Forbes as one of the world's richest people, estimated to be worth $1.5B.
Spark Networks - Jeronimo Folgueira
Before taking over Spark in 2017, Jeronimo was a Managing Director at Betfair plc (now Paddy Power plc). The Columbia Business School grad took over the reigns of all of Spark Networks SE when JDate and Christian Mingle-focused Spark merged with Affinitas GmbH.
See full article at Thinknum Media
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CONTXTO - Feb 15 - Mi Media Manzana was founded in Lima, Peru by Pedro Neira (CEO) and César Hoshi (COO) back in 2014. They now have operations across Latin America. The startup developed an algorithm that matches people based on compatibility, thus recommending people with similar interests and personalities. Colombia represents 40% of the app's downloads while Peru, Chile and Mexico represent 30, 10 and 10%, respectively. The rest of their users are well spread across Argentina, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, among other places. Latin America is well-known for its romantic culture, but the online dating was once a highly stigmatized industry. Taboos around these products are still very noticeable among the population. Latin America's perception changed only a few years back when Tinder entered the market in 2017. Latin America's population is huge, and online dating has yet to reach its peak.
by Victor Cortés
See full article at Contxto
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GEEKWIRE - Feb 15 - DNA Romance is a Vancouver, B.C.-based startup that launched in 2014. It generates potential matches based on a DNA analysis of genes involved with immune system response that research has connected to human attraction. People can use a kit purchased from DNA Romance to sample and create their genetic blueprint, or share their results from one of the other DNA sequencing companies. The startup has raised $120K from friends and family and has customers in 93 countries. Their business model was initially subscription based, but in the fall they shifted to selling home DNA testing kits and online advertising to generate revenue. The kits cost $74.75. DNA Romance is available online, with plans to develop mobile apps. Competitors in the DNA-assisted dating space include Pheramor, GenePartner and Instant Chemistry.
by Lisa Stiffler
See fll article at Geekwire
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MARKETING TECHNOLOGY INSIGHTS - Feb 15 - Catherine Cook Connelly, the co-Founder and VP Brand Strategy at The Meet Group spoke at the Mobile Growth Summit 2019 this week. Her session is about how they built Live, their live streaming video feature and why it works so well for their portfolio of apps. "It is the most successful product we have ever launched in the company's history, reaching a $71M annualized revenue run rate in just 15 months of being active," she said.
Q: What was behind your decision to build Live?
A: From watching MOMO and other popular Chinese dating apps, we began to see how live streaming can fill a core product gap in dating apps. We've always thought of our apps as the neighborhood bar, and video is the live entertainment meant to keep people engaged and give them something more to talk about. Our apps - LOVOO, MeetMe, Tagged, and Skout - have ~25M minutes of live video every day, and we have not experienced cannibalization of our core text-based chat. Instead, live video fills the product gaps.
Q: Did you have a monetization model in mind prior to its launch?
A: Yes, we used the monetization model popularized in Eastern live streaming apps that rely on viewers to send gifts to the broadcaster. The model has taken off with our users because streamers have an incentive to make interesting streams. We're introducing new products such as Battles, which brings an exciting competitive dynamic to Live. The feature brings together two live streamers for a live competition, whether it be for best dancer, musician or comedian. Each battle lasts just a few minutes, and the winner is the streamer who earns more diamonds from the audience. On a larger scale, we expect to bring Levels to the platform this year. Levels adds a gamification element to Live by establishing aspirational ranks for users and exclusive benefits to unlock.
Q: It seems like being a "live streamer" is now a formal occupation that can be quite lucrative… can you discuss this phenomenon as you are seeing it unfold firsthand?
A: A few of our streamers have said they plan to quit their jobs or have taken a step back from their previous job to build themselves up as streamers. 20% of our streamers consider themselves full-time live streamers.
by Sudipto Ghosh
See full article at Marketing Technology Insights
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OPW - Feb 15 - HER social and dating app will be hosting a panel at SXSW as a part of their LGBTQ+ Series. The panelists are Phillip Picardi - Editor in Chief at Out Magazine, Robyn Exton - Founder/CEO of HER, Leyna Bloom - Model, Activist, Dancer, Actress and Alok Vaid-Menon - Artist, Public Speaker, Writer. The panel will be held on Saturday, March 9th from 12:30-1:30, titled "The Future is Fluid: How Gender and Identity Have Changed".
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MAIL ONLINE - Feb 16 - Laura Anderson stars as a flight attendant in eharmony advert.
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L'EXPRESS - Feb 14 - Can an algorithm determine the success of a marriage? Can it predict the duration of a relation even before it begins? Dating apps are constantly improving, now incorporating a dose of AI. Tinder's "Elo Score" is now the subject of harsh criticism. This algorithm, inspired by the ranking of chess players, is matching people with lower score with people who also have a lower score. If someone with a higher score is interested in you, your initial score increases. Another matching technique is "Clustering" - which is based on matching you with people who are talking to people who are like you. "Dating apps don't know who your best match is so they rely on people who look like you to have a better idea. It's brilliant," says Mark Brooks, consultant and online dating expert. "Dating apps are still very young but are already delivering better results than hanging out in bars", he says.
by Sébastien Julian
See full article at L'Express
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