Internet Dating Investments

IPO Could Value Bumble At $1.1 Billion

BLOOMBERG - Nov 5 - An IPO in Bumble could value the app at as low as $1.1B, below the $1.5 billion figure it was reportedly seeking in January, according to calculations by Synovus Trust senior portfolio manager Dan Morgan. Andrey Andreev, majority holder of Bumble's parent company, is talking to banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co. about a possible Nasdaq listing. Morgan applied the average multiple to an estimated 2019 revenue of $283M to get a $1.1B IPO valuation, though said it could increase on Bumble's plan to launch advertising next year.

by Shelly Hagan
See full article at Bloomberg

This post also appears on OnlinePersonalsWatch.

Shareholders Increase Stake in Spark Networks

FAIRFIELD CURRENT - Nov 4 - First Manhattan Co. boosted its holdings in Spark Networks by 197.3% during the Q3. The firm owned 225,170 shares. First Manhattan owned 6.99% of Spark Networks worth $2.6M at the end of the most recent quarter. Separately, PEAK6 Investments increased its position in Spark Networks by 7.4% in the Q2. PEAK6 Investments now owns 478,119 shares valued at $5.1M.

by Darrell McKinsey
See full article at Fairfield Current

This post also appears on OnlinePersonalsWatch.

Wake-up Call, eHarmony Sold For A Song

OPW - Oct 30 - ProSiebenSat.1 bought eHarmony for $85 million. A real deal. They'll run on a common platform in the future. eHarmony will do roughly $90m revenues, and $0 profit in 2018. Customer lifetime value for eHarmony is $200, whereas Parship is at $570. More info here. Brand recognition for eHarmony stands above Tinder and on par with the likes of Instagram and American Airlines.

See full article at the IDEA blog.

This post also appears on OnlinePersonalsWatch.

How Much Was eHarmony Sold For?

FINANCIAL TIMES - Oct 30 - ProSiebenSat.1, one of Germany's largest media groups, has agreed to buy US dating site eHarmony as part of its drive to create the world's biggest online matchmaker. ProSieben already owns stake in Parship Elite, a successful German dating business. ProSieben, which will merge eHarmony with Parship Elite did not disclose financial terms of the deal. But one person briefed on the acquisition said it valued eharmony at $85M - making it a surprisingly cheap date compared with rival Match, which has a market value of $13.7B. eHarmony, which raised ~$100M during just one fundraising round 15 years ago, has spent ~$1B on marketing in recent years, according to the person.

by Matthew Garrahan
See full article at Financial Times

Mark Brooks: eHarmony was sold for more than $85 million, that's for sure. Its brand value alone is worth double that. I'd put them at North of $300 million valuation.

This post also appears on OnlinePersonalsWatch.

Germany's ProSiebenSat.1 Media (Parship) Acquires eHarmony

REUTERS - Oct 29 - Germany's ProSiebenSat.1 Media has bought eHarmony, in the first significant deal since it carved out a new e-commerce joint venture with General Atlantic. eHarmony expects 2.8 million new users this year, and complements ProSieben's own Parship dating franchise which is the market leader in Germany. Terms were not disclosed. Parship and sister brand Elite Partner, count 2 million registrations a year. eHarmony has brand awareness of nearly 90% and a very big user base that can be served better from a common platform. ProSieben is pushing to diversify away from its core commercial TV franchise, where ad revenues are flat and the sector is being disrupted by streaming platforms like Netflix. The Munich-based broadcaster bought eharmony via its newly created Nucom division, in which investor General Atlantic took a 24.9% stake in February. Nucom owns 94% of Parship. eharmony raised $113 million in two funding rounds. Most recently in 2004, Tuputele Ventures, TCV, Sequoia Capital and Fayez Sarofim & Co. eHarmony CEO Grant Langston will continue to run the business while representatives of Parship will join its board.

by Douglas Busvine & Joern Poltz
See full article at Reuters

This post also appears on OnlinePersonalsWatch.

Bumble Owner Targets Nasdaq IPO To Become World's Top Matchmaker

BLOOMBERG - Oct 11 - The group behind Bumble is weighing an IPO in the U.S. as part of its plan to become the world's biggest dating business, according to founder Andrey Andreev. "We're now in very deep discussions with banks," including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Andreev said. Andreev, 44, is the majority shareholder of Bumble owner Rimberg International Corp., a holding company that also controls gay-dating app Chappy and London-based Badoo. Andreev, who founded Badoo in 2006, hopes the IPO will help his firm overtake Match Group. Andreev said revenue may be as much as $400M this year, which is less than a third of Match's $1.33B last year. Bumble would be the "umbrella brand" for any IPO, which won't happen before year-end, he said. Badoo invested $10M to help Wolfe Herd start Bumble, giving Andreev's group a stake of ~75%. Today, Bumble has 41M users, more than double from a year ago. "Bumble is going crazy," Andreev said. "Bumble is already in Germany, and it's growing at 500% a month there."

by Sophie Alexander & Benjamin Stupples
See full article at Bloomberg

This post also appears on OnlinePersonalsWatch.

Dating Startup Betterhalf.AI Raises $500K In Seed Funding

ANALYTICS INDIA MAGAZINE - Oct 11 - AI-based dating startup raised $500K in a seed funding round. The investors included former MD of Google India Shailesh Rao, former investment director of Flipkart Rehan A Khan along with other senior investors. The startup has already raised ~$750K till now. Founded in 2016, by two MIT alumni, Pawan Gupta and Rahul Namdev, Betterhalf.AI uses artificial intelligence to find matches through compatibility scores based on multiple relationship dimensions and their interactions on the product.

by Prajakta Hebbar
See full article at Analytics India Magazine

This post also appears on OnlinePersonalsWatch.

No ICO For Dating Startup Ohlala

GRUENDERSZENE - Oct 11 - "Paid dating" startup Ohlala wanted to raise 100M Eur from an ICO. But Ohlala's founder Pia Poppenreiter now said there will be no public token sale. "I realized that this would not serve the larger goal of building a sustainable, global player in the paid dating industry," said the founder. The Ohlala team does not seem to be the only one that currently disregards an ICO. ICO global investment fell sharply as the year progressed: In January, companies raised $ 2.4B in ICO compared to $300M in September. ICOs can be a huge risk for the investors: Those who participated in the ICO of the Frankfurt Fintechs Savedroid money, lost 93% of their money.

by Pauline Schnor
See full article at GruenderSzene

This post also appears on OnlinePersonalsWatch.

IAC Acquires Match Shares

SEEKING ALPHA - Oct 3 - IAC discloses acquiring ~259K Match Group shares at average prices ranging from $35.23 to $59.25. The acquisitions represent Match shares as reimbursement for IAC shares issued in connection with the settlement of Match equity awards and the exercise of IAC stock options. Match Group shares are up 1.7% to $57.25.

by Brandy Betz
See full article at Seeking Alpha

This post also appears on OnlinePersonalsWatch.

Bumble Welcomes Priyanka Chopra As Investor, Partner In India Expansion

THE BEEHIVE - Oct 5 - Priyanka Chopra is an Indian actress, producer, philanthropist, activist, and entrepreneur. She is joining Bumble ahead of its upcoming expansion into India. Bumble and Priyanka first began collaborating for the launch of Bumble Bizz in October of 2017. From then on, they began architecting a plan to partner and collaborate on a rollout into India. Priyanka's manager Anjula Acharia also joins Bumble as a strategic advisor. Bumble will officially launch in India this fall after spending the past 9 months building a local team, defining a go-to-market strategy, and engaging key partners in the market.

See full article at The Beehive

This post also appears on OnlinePersonalsWatch.