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

Mozilla Privacy Report Singles out Grindr for Serious Security Lapses

TECH REPUBLIC - Feb 10 - 21 of the 24 dating apps examined were tagged with the "*Privacy Not Included" warning label, noting that apps like Grindr are a "privacy and security nightmare." Mozilla researchers dug deep into the privacy policies and security practices of dating sites, pressing companies with questions like "Can this app or product snoop on me? What data is being collected and who is it shared with? What is the company's track record for protecting users' data? And, What could happen if something goes wrong?" Grindr continues to share other user data, like location, with third parties. Plenty of Fish is also mandating information like users' vehicle ownership and their parents' marital status," the study noted. Lex, built for the lesbian, queer, trans, and non-binary community, collects minimal data, and doesn't share it for marketing purposes. Further, their privacy policy is crystal clear. eHarmony is another app that respects users' privacy and security.

by Jonathan Greig
See full article at Tech Republic

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Deals During Covid and Investing in Founders Without Meeting IRL

FORBES - Oct 27 - VCs now take their pitches over a safely-distanced Zoom call. But VC funding for female founders has dropped to a three-year low. Firms invested ~$434M in Q3, the lowest figure since the Q2 of 2017, according to PitchBook data. The Q2 total also amounts to a 48% drop in funding from Q2, when female founders received $841M across 132 deals. There are VC firms that focus exclusively on female founders, such as Female Founders Fund (FFF). Founded in 2014, the NYC-based firm has raised two funds to date (~$6M and ~$25M) and counts 40+ companies in its portfolio. One deal FFF closed during the lockdown is Lex, a text-based social app for queer, non-binary and trans communities. Other investors that joined in alongside FFF include Peanut's Michelle Kennedy and the Bumble Fund. Through her app, Lex founder Kell Rakowski is reframing the dating experience from a visual-based to a text-based experience, bringing back old-school personal ads to social media. The current version of Lex has zero photos and no swiping. The NYC-based startup recently closed its seed round of $1.5M, which was led by FFF.

by Bérénice Magistretti
See full article at Forbes

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Lex Is the Lesbian and Queer Dating App That Puts Language First

ALLURE - Feb 24 - Lex, the text-based dating app, launched in November of 2019. The app was inspired by newspaper personals. "Language is really key in queer communities", says Lex's founder Kelly Rakowski. Instagram photos aren't loaded into Lex profiles.

by Rosemary Donahue
See full article at Allure

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Personals Instagram Account Became Wildly Popular for Its Queer Personal Ads

WASHINGTON POST - Dec 27 - After starting in 2017, Personals Instagram page became a hugely popular place for people to meet a partner or to make a friend, attracting 60K followers. Last month, founder Kelly Rakowski took the next step of turning it into its own app, Lex, creating a rare queer-centric platform for romance and friendship. Lex was financed by a Kickstarter campaign that raised $50K. The profiles look similar to those on Personals - minimalist, no photos - but users can message privately and set geographic boundaries.

by Anying Guo
See full article at Washington Post

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Dating Apps Are Turning to Message-free Meetups

INSIDER - Dec 2 - Dating app creators are experimenting with old-school dating methods. Video "speed dating" features, text-only profiles, and apps that ban in-app messaging have emerged recently. The League, which launched in 2014, recently announced League Live, a feature where users can go on two-minute video "speed dates" with potential matches. People who use League Live are four times more likely to match with someone than people who use the non-"speed dating" version of The League, according to an emailed statement from the League. The new app Bounce also emphasizes face-to-face meetups. It allows users to "check-in" at specific locations as a way to say they're interested in going on a date around that geographic area. Lex, a new dating app for the queer community, takes another old-school approach by allowing people to scroll through a feed of personal ad-style call-outs. People who use Lex can't post photos, so the connections have to go beyond physical appearances.

by Julia Naftulin
See full article at Insider

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Lex - New App That Offers Text-based Personal Ads

THE CUT - Nov 12 - Last year, Kelly Rakowski started Personals, a modern reimagining of dyke-centric ads from the pages of the '80s and '90s lesbian erotica magazine On Our Backs. In early November, she announced Personals would be making a major move, launching its own app with a new name: Lex. After months of beta testing from Kickstarter supporters, Lex (as in "lexicon") is now available for free download, offering the same text-based personal ads and missed connections. Rakowski says an app was necessary based on the number of ads she began receiving. A 2018 Kickstarter campaign raised ~$50K, which all went to the development of Lex. Anyone who donated to the campaign were early beta testers of the app, providing crucial feedback. On launch day, Lex saw 6K downloads.

by Trish Bendix
See full aticle at The Cut

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