Online Personals Watch: News on the Online Dating Industry and Business

Interview with Adam Cohen-Aslatei, Managing Director of Chappy

OPW INTERVIEW - Nov 30 - Adam Cohen-Aslatei recently became Chappy's new Managing Director. (see news). A Harvard grad with 5 years at The Meet Group, he's powering up Chappy to become a leader in the gay dating space. - Mark Brooks

What brought you to Chappy and why do you want to help grow Chappy?
I've always been interested in networking and relationship building. Back when I was in graduate school I started a speed dating event series backed by an algorithmic technology. The majority of my career has focused on advertising technology and dating, so when this opportunity was presented, to reinvent and redefine gay dating, I jumped at the chance.

This mission is very personal for me. I came out later in life and I wish I had had access to an app like this. I believe everyone in our community deserves a better way to meet new people and build relationships in an environment that uplifts and empowers. This is the foundation and ambition of Chappy.

What is the most frustrating pain point in online gay dating?
Over and over we hear stories from guys about encountering discrimination, cat-fishing, or just general bad treatment on gay dating apps. Endless torso scrolling and anonymous profiles lead to a lack of accountability and a feeling of being in the shadows. All of our profiles feature a face and a name. Our bios are descriptive and we have a zero tolerance for hate and discrimination. All Chappy members sign a pledge to treat people with kindness and respect. All profiles are verified, stamping out cat-fishing. In a nutshell, we provide a clean environment from which to build relationships with real people.

Can you tell us about the new "Cute & Sexy" scale, and what it does to empower users?
The scale allows our guy to find the type of relationship he's looking for. The type of experience doesn't define the guy, and the same guy may want something Sexy one day and something Cute the next. We consider "Sexy" something that's bold and adventurous, that can be short term or not, but always memorable. Something "Cute" is sweet and could go the distance. This mood based scale empowers our community to find what they're looking for without judgement. We want to help gay guys find great, meaningful relationships for now, or forever.

How is Chappy working to be an ally for the LGBT community?
From the beginning, Chappy's mission included a commitment to building a stronger community. We take that mission seriously and we put our money where our mouth is. We recently started a new partnerships with GLAAD, which has become a fixture of our app, called Chats for Charity. Chappy will make a donation for each new chat session initiated on our platform - and these funds will help support global gay voices. So not only are we building real relationships within our community each day, but our members are also helping the community at-large.

We are finalizing a number of additional partnerships with organizations that build awareness, tolerance, and acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community, and look forward to announcing them soon.

Can you tell us a bit about Chats for Charity and how it works?
Chats for Charity is an easy way for our community to engage with our product while also supporting global gay voices. For each new chat sessions initiated on the platform, Chappy will make a donation to GLAAD. The funds are unrestricted, meaning that GLAAD has the flexibility to allocate them to both urgent issues and long term projects. We need to work together, individuals and companies, if we ever want to end discrimination, intolerance, and prejudice.

What does Chappy do to make sure user are safe to keep the community authentic?
All profiles are verified and profile pictures must contain a face. All of our members must sign the Chappy Pledge, a pact to be kind and respectful, and a vow to not discriminate. We elevate the barrier to register on the app, but that means that guys who are serious about meeting other guys and building meaningful relationships are on the app.

Our algorithm finds the best match for you and a mutual match must occur before anyone starts chatting, increasing the quality of the potential connection. I am always impressed to find such high quality guys on the app, amazing artists, Ivy League students, doctors, advocates, athletes and adventure seekers to name a few. Every kind of guy is on the app, and that's what makes our community so amazing.

What advice would you give to new Chappy user?
I would tell him to be honest, open and authentic. Whether he is looking for something fun and immediate or long term and lasting, he deserves to be treated with respect and with kindness. I believe that we each have a responsibility in our community to uplift each other and treat others the way we want to be treated. Now get ready to meet a great guy!

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Is Bumble's $1.1B Valuation for Real?

PROFIT CONFIDENTIAL - Nov 29 - The Bumble IPO is set to land sometime before 2019 and will be one of the first pure-play dating apps to enter the market. While no firm date has been set, the company has stated that it is seeking to have the IPO sometime next month. It could, of course, be delayed. The valuation is one delay factor. The company is currently seeking a $1.5B IPO. Some analysts, however, have placed the company as low as $1.1B. The valuation is subject to change, however, as the company is exploring new ways to monetize, namely through advertising. Bumble has jumped to 40M users in 4 years, up from 12.5M in February of 2017. "We are at our annual run rate of $200M for 2018, and we're only in year three. We've been a profitable business since year two," Bumble co-founder Whitney Herd said.

by Stephen Karmazyn
See full article at Profit Confidential

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First Week of Facebook Dating

VICE CANADA - Nov 29 - Vice freelance writer Ebony-Renee Baker tested Facebook Dating. After about a week of using it, she grew frustrated with the feature's algorithm. On Facebook Dating users can tap "interested" or "pass" on the profiles that are suggested for them. The app forces users to start a conversation immediately once they "tap" interested. Pretty much immediately after she started using it, she begin getting unsolicited messages on the "interested" page. One day she received 30 messages from guys who she hasn't shown interest in. At this point she is feeling less inclined to go back on the app.

by Ebony-Renee Baker
See full article at Vice Canada

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'Digital Smell' Technology Could Send Odours in Dating Apps

MIRROR.CO.UK - Nov 29 - Researchers from the Imagineering Institute in Malaysia have developed 'digital smell technology', that could let you send smells online. Normally, odours are transmitted by airborne molecules that enter your nose. But in this system, the researchers used electrodes in the nostrils to deliver weak electrical currents to simulate smells.

by Shivali Best
See full article at Mirror.co.uk

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IDEA WOW - Malta Edition

OPW - Nov 28 - The first IDEA WOW gathering happened November 24th thru 27th in Malta. The Internet Dating Excellence Association World Officers Weekend was hosted by Mark & Irena Brooks and attended by 8 C level executives and 1 VP from Twoo, 2RedBeans, Christian Cafe, Woo, Jaumo, and New York's top high-end matchmaker. Where do you want to go next?

Post by Mark Brooks, CEO IDEA

BharatMatrimony Appoints New CFO

TECH CIRCLE - Nov 27 - Matrimony.com, the parent company of Indian matchmaking platform BharatMatrimony, has appointed former Mindtree executive Sushanth Pai as its new CFO. He will replace K Balasubramanian, who is retiring. Matrimony.com was founded in 1997 by Murugavel Janakiraman. Its brands include BharatMatrimony, CommunityMatrimony and EliteMatrimony. The company acquired SecondShaadi in March to consolidate its offering for those looking to marry again. For the Q3, Matrimony reported a 12% increase in revenue to Rs 86.23 crore ($12M).

by Vijayakumar Pitchiah
See full article at Tech Circle

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InfoEdge India Q2 FY18-19 Results

MONEY CONTROL - Nov 27 - Revenue in Q2 was Rs. 265 crores ($37M), up 18% YOY. Operating expenses were at Rs. 182.5 crores ($25.8M), up 24% YOY. The increase was largely due to marketing expenses and higher product development costs. Operating EBITDA stood at Rs. 82.5 crores ($11.6M) versus Rs. 88.8 crores ($12.6M) last year, a decrease of 7% YOY. The recruitment business and the real-estate business continue to drive growth this quarter. The company kept innovating and expect to gain share in the long run in Jeevansathi matrimony business. Marketing spends in Jeevansathi led to an increase in registrations and paid transactions. Jeevansathi billings grew by 4.2% YOY in Q2 to Rs. 17.9 crores ($2.5M). Revenue grew 3.7% year-on-year to Rs.18.4 crores ($2.6M). Operating EBITDA losses in Jeevansathi stood at Rs. 7.2 crores ($1M) in Q2 FY19 vs. a loss of Rs. 3.6 crores ($509K) in Q2 FY18. ~90% of users access Jeevansathi from the mobile platform.

See full article at Money Control

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Bumble and Moxy Hotels Launch 'BumbleSpot #attheMoxy'

OUR COMMUNITY NOW - Nov 28 - Bumble is partnering with Moxy Hotels, Marriott International's experimental brand, to host fun and interactive spaces where users can meet their online matches in real life. BumbleSpots are places that have been verified by Bumble as inclusive environments for users to meet, whether it be dating, friendships, or professional networking. Moxy Hotels is Bumble's first nationwide partner to be designated as a BumbleSpot, and more BumbleSpot locations are set to launch across the US and Canada over the next year.

See full article at Our Community Now

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Taiwan Rejects Same-sex Marriage in Referendums

BBC - Nov 27 - Voters in Taiwan have rejected legalising same-sex marriages in a series of referendums on Saturday. Conservative groups asked whether the current legislation - defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman in Taiwan's Civil Code - should remain unchanged, while LGBT activists asked for to be amended to include same-sex couples. Voters backed the conservative "pro-family" groups. The government said that Saturday's referendums would not affect it bringing in the changes required by the court ruling. The authorities are now expected to pass a special law, without amending the Civil Code. But campaigners fear the eventual legislation will be weaker. One possible outcome could be that gay couples are given legal protection - but not allowed to get married.

See full article at BBC

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The New Breed of Elite Dating Apps Designed for Wealthy Singletons

FINANCIAL TIMES - Nov 26 - Elite platforms are unashamedly catering to professionals, the wealthy, the highly educated and celebrities. The most controversial is Luxy, which described itself when it launched in 2014 as "Tinder, minus the poor people". Luxy declined to provide figures on its profits or revenues, but says it has been profitable since its first year of operation and now has ~2M users. New members must first pass a 24-hour approval process. Only 10-15% are accepted and the company claims that half of its active members earn ~$500K. The Inner Circle, which describes itself as an "exclusive community" was launched in 2012 in the Netherlands. It organises social gatherings for its members, such as polo tournaments, gallery openings or cabaret nights. Members are vetted according to profession, age and the quality of the pictures they submit. The company also declines to share the revenue figures, but says it is profitable, employs ~20 staff and has 1.3M approved members globally. The League, launched in the US in 2015, caters to professionals who are screened based on what industry they work in, their university education and how many LinkedIn connections they have. Toffee, a dating app exclusively aimed at the privately educated, launched in the UK this year. Lydia Davis, co-founder of the app, estimates Toffee will make $10M in revenues in 2019 if the app is as successful overseas as it has been initially in the UK.

by Madison Marriage
See full article at Financial Times

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Tinder Is not Blocked in Philippines by Government

PHILSTAR - Nov 26 - Telecommunications giant PLDT denied reports that their customers couldn't access Tinder as the government has ordered the dating app's blocking due to the Anti-Cybercrime Law. Reports on the app's blocking surfaced after online user EJ Serrano tweeted a screenshot of his conversation with a customer service representative of PLDT. He asked the telecommunications firm why he could not access the dating app when using wi-fi at home. A PLDT representative replied that it was due to the Anti-Cybercrime Law that the app is blocked. Ramon Isberto, head of public affairs and corporate communications of PLDT and Smart, said that here is no government order to block access to the app. Serrano later updated his tweet saying PLDT called him and clarified that the government did not block the app. He said the app is blocked by PLDT.

by Rosette Adel
See full article at Philstar

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Dating Apps Could Cause an Explosion in HIV, NHS Expert Warns

DAILYMAIL.CO.UK - Nov 26 - Dr Peter Greenhouse, a Bristol doctor, warned Internet porn is contributing, too. Young people using Tinder could soon trigger a surge in HIV cases because they're more likely to change partners regularly. The NHS has already seen a rise in more treatable infections, which some experts have pinned on the rise of dating apps. But despite the fear of spreading cases, the number of people being newly diagnosed with HIV in the UK is at its lowest level in 18 years. Data released by Public Health England in September revealed just 4,363 people in the country were diagnosed in 2017. This was far lower than a spike in 2005 which saw nearly 8K people diagnosed.

by Sam Blanchard
See full article at DailyMail.co.uk

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Lessons from David Vermeulen, Founder of The Inner Circle

REAL BUSINESS - Nov 22 - The Inner Circle launched in the UK in 2013, had €4.9M in revenue in 2017 and employs 12 people. The crux of Vermeulen's business idea came from personal experience, Vermeulen was looking for love himself. Living in London in 2012, he was trying all the different apps the internet had to offer. But they were high on user traffic, but low on quality user experience. "The bad dates were a catalyst for me. With The Inner Circle, I wanted the focus to be on good quality people meeting on a good quality platform." The website took traction in Amsterdam first, and then London. "But the game changer came a year later when launching the app itself," says Vermeulen. "Tinder became a little like MacDonald's. It's addictive and you want more, but as soon as you consume it, you feel sick." "We achieved a €8k turnover during our first month. By our second, it was €23k." There was huge pressure for Vermeulen to manage this growth effectively. With every launch in every city you make a lot of mistakes, and initially, we were launching across many cities at once, so we made a lot of mistakes. "We took a step back and took it city by city," says Vermeulen. As we stand, in late 2018, the demand for what The Inner Circle offers daters shows no signs of slowing. There are ~1.2M people on the waiting list. But what Vermeulen is most proud of is the wall of baby photos that are sent by couples who met on his app.

by Annie May Noonan
See full article at Real Business

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Tinder Is Aping Bumble to Beat Bumble in India

QUARTZ INDIA - Nov 22 - Tinder is launching "My Move" in India, that lets women to make the first move. My Move takes on one of Bumble's hallmark feature of allowing only women to begin conversations on the app. Besides, Tinder is also making space for more gender identities. Q&A with Tinder's India head, Taru Kapoor:

Q: In 2015, Tinder said India was its top market in Asia. How has the growth story been since then?
A: India continues to be our top market in Asia and one of our fastest-growing markets.

Q: You're reportedly struggling to get women on board in India.
A: Women are becoming more engaged on Tinder in India. In our society, women face a lot more barriers and judgement.

Q: Why did Tinder choose to launch "My Move" only in India?
A: We are constantly looking at ways to grow our user experience, and we don't believe we're ever done. There are some women who prefer to take the lead.

Q: Bumble is entering India. Will that mean a fiercer battle for market share?
A: Competitors come and go. We are not really focused on market share. We are the market leader. We've done that because we focused on giving value to our users. As long as users find our experience great, we'll probably continue to grow.

Q: Priyanka Chopra has partnered with Bumble in India. Are you also looking at some such tie-up?
A: We have a history of partnering with a lot of celebrities, brands, and communities that resonate with our user base.

Q: Why did Tinder choose to launch more genders at this moment in India?
A: We believe we have a responsibility to send a message about inclusiveness, acceptance, and equality.

Q: How important will India be for Tinder in the future?
A: There are ~100M young single smartphone users in India today. That's a large demographic, and it's growing. We expect that online dating will become more and more popular.

Q: Are you also targeting smaller cities?
A: Tinder is growing in smaller cities. In fact, in smaller cities, we have grown faster in the last one year.

Q: What is Tinder's team size in India?
A: Currently, we are a small team focused on marketing, localisation, and understanding the consumer.

by Kuwar Singh
See full article at Quartz India

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The Subtle Way Dating Apps Reinforce Our Racial Biases

HUFFINGTON POST - Nov 22 - A new study out of Cornell University suggests that dating app algorithms don't do us any favors as far as sexual racism goes. To conduct the study, the researchers downloaded the 25 top-grossing apps in the iOS app store as of fall 2017, including Tinder, OKCupid, Hinge, Grindr, Meetville and Coffee Meets Bagel. Then they looked for features that could affect users' discriminatory behavior toward other users. This included terms of service, their sorting, filtering and matching algorithms and how users are presented to each other. They found that most apps employ algorithms that cater to users' past personal preferences and the matching history. So if a user had matched with white users repeatedly in the past, the algorithm was more likely to suggest more white people as "good matches" moving forward.

by Brittany Wong
See full article at Huffington Post

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