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

Dating App IRLY Raises $350K Pre-Seed Round

BUSINESS INSIDER - Investors include Chris Kaufman, the co-founder of the sneaker marketplace StockX, and Kevin Edwards, the CEO of the Canadian food-delivery service SkipTheDishes, along with several angel investors. The app, expected to launch early next year, aims to cater to Gen Z, with the possibility for users to video chat, play games, and send each other virtual gifts. The app has brought on the Internet star Cameron Dallas, who rose to fame in the early 2010s on the short-form video app Vine and now has ~25M Instagram followers. He previously co-founded a subscription platform called Fanfix. SuperOrdinary, a beauty accelerator, acquired Fanfix in July in an eight-figure deal.

by Marta Biino
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How Filteroff Attracted a $2M Investment From Brewing Giant AB InBev

BUSINESS INSIDER - AB InBev is known for beer brands such as Bud Light, Stella Artois, and Hoegaarden. ZX Ventures, the beverage giant's venture arm, made a $2M investment in Filteroff, a dating app that connects people through digital and in-person events. The companies collaborate on in-person dating events that AB InBev supplies with beer. Filteroff, launched in 2019, hosts virtual speed-dating events through its app, where attendees talk on video chat and have the option to set up a second date later. The app has also started organizing events where singles can meet face-to-face over a beer.

by Alex Bitter
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This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.com

Three Former Trump Staffers Are Launching a Dating App for Conservatives

BUSINESS INSIDER - The Right Stuff, a conservative dating app founded by Trump administration staffers John McEntee, Daniel Huff, and Isaac Stalzer, came out of stealth last week via a video posted by the company's spokesperson, Ryann McEnany, on Twitter. On The Right Stuff, users can only identify themselves as male or female, or view profiles without pronouns. Women can earn a premium subscription by inviting friends to the platform, while men have to pay to access premium features, such as viewing more profiles, sending more likes, and seeing all of their likes at once. The Right Stuff is the latest dating app catered to conservatives that has cropped up in recent years. Others include Righter and Donald Dater. Peter Thiel, a billionaire investor and outspoken Trump supporter, was reportedly pouring $1.5M into the app. Thiel has a long history of investing in startups that align with conservative values.

by Samantha Stokes & Lakshmi Varanasi
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OkCupid: Culture of Inclusion Is Key to Innovation

BUSINESS INSIDER - OkCupid has offered more options for LGBTQ communities years before other dating apps. Marcus Lofthouse, its chief product officer, explains how he fosters inclusive innovation. The key is to foster safe spaces for employees and work with people from diverse backgrounds. "We have a historical legacy of being open," Lofthouse said. "We set the pace on things like LGBTQIA+ products and offerings. Other apps look to us."

by Marguerite Ward
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People Use Tinder to Sell Insurance and Looking for Love on LinkedIn

INSIDER - There are a number of reports online of similar instances where people have said that they used dating apps for purposes other than dates. According to Tinder's community guidelines, promotion or solicitation is prohibited. "It's fine to invite your matches to something that you're doing, but if the purpose of your profile is to advertise your event or business, non-profit, political campaign, contest, or to conduct research, we may delete your account," the rules read. But it appears that there's little regulation of the rule. On the flip side, some people have boldly turned to social media platforms outside of dating sites in their quest for love. Some people have openly blogged about finding their significant other via LinkedIn.

by Waiyee Yip
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China's Millennials Are Shunning Marriage at Alarming Rates

INSIDER - As China modernizes, more women are rejecting marriage in pursuit of financial freedom. That's led to a decline in birth rates, which has Chinese authorities concerned. Across the country, social commentators and local governments have publicly blamed the crisis on single women and pushed them toward marriage. Communist party youth wings launched their own matchmaking services this year, helping singles connect via ice-breaker games at official events. But many women in China say they're no longer interested in tying the knot; they see marriage as a potential roadblock to achieving economic independence. In a Communist Youth League survey of 2,905 unmarried youths last year, 44% of urban women aged 18 to 26 said they had no plans to get married, with 25% of men answering the same.

by Matthew Loh
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Dating App Scammers Are Rampant

INSIDER - The hit Netflix documentary "The Tinder Swindler," raised awareness about dating app scams, also called romance scams. Romance scam victims lost $1.3B total in the past 5 years, according to the FTC. In January, a man in Denver lost $1.6M after a Hinge match told him to invest it into a retirement account. Another woman gave a Hinge match her $300K in life savings to invest into a cryptocurrency exchange site that turned out to be fake. There are ways to preemptively protect yourself from identity theft and financial fraud, Mark Kapczynski, SVP of strategic partnerships at cybersecurity service OneRep. He suggested removing personal information from Google searches. Even if a dating-app match only has your first name, general location, and picture, they can still track you down with a quick internet search, said Kapczynski. "There are 150 or 200 sites that will have your personal information on them. Google your date and do a reverse-image search. Last, he said look out for certain behaviors, like intense persistence, or asking for money or to meet in a remote location.

by Julia Naftulin
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Billionaire Investor Peter Thiel Is Reportedly Pouring $1.5M Into a Dating App for Conservatives

BUSINESS INSIDER - Early Facebook investor Peter Thiel is reportedly pouring $1.5M into "The Right Stuff", a dating app for conservatives. John McEntee, Trump's former political aide, is behind the project. It will launch first in Washington DC this summer and will initially be invite-only.

by Katie Canales
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This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.com

Dating App Executives Are Hoping for a Post-Omicron 'Summer of Love'

INSIDER - Gary Swidler, Match Group's CFO and COO, said summer 2022 could finally be "that summer of love." Swidler made the comment during an earnings call, but clarified his projection in the Q&A. He said that Match Group anticipates daters to return to pre-Omicron habits, but not pre-pandemic behaviors once Omicron's impact fades.

by Anna Medaris Miller
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MatchGroup Accuses Muzmatch of Free-Riding

BUSINESS INSIDER - MatchGroup is suing Muslim-oriented dating startup Muzmatch in the UK. Match accused Muzmatch of "free-riding" off its reputation, alleging the app copied the look and feel of its logo and apps and used the word "Match" and "Tinder" in its SEO and meta tags to boost traffic. It claims users could confuse Muzmatch for its own services. Match Group has previously sued Bumble and threesome app 3nder, now called Feeld. Muzmatch's founder Shahzad Younas claimed Match's legal action came after he turned down four acquisition offers from Match in 2018 and 2019. When acquisition talks failed, Match purchased a different Muslim dating app, and sued his firm, the filings stated. The two-day UK trial took place on Monday 17 and Tuesday 18, and the judge expects a decision will be made in six weeks.

by Tamsin Lockwood
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Evolving OkCupid in India

BUSINESS INSIDER - Aug 11 - Virtual dates became an acceptable way of dating. In 2020 OKCupid rolled out its redesign globally called Stacks which is a new matching system that consolidates multiple discovery methods into one, making it even easier to find the type of person users are looking for.

Anukool Kumar is Marketing Director for OkCupid in India: We've seen women discovering their independence and extending that security to choosing relationships that see them as more than just a horoscope or radius of a roti. More women are opening conversations. The new Stacks discovery experience shows matches in a focused, thoughtful way, and gives daters the choice of dating 'online', 'recommended' (a stack of recommendations based on preferences), 'nearby', and 'match %'. Globally, there's been a 30% increase in messages sent. since 2020. OkCupid has 20 sexual orientations, 22 gender options and over 60 identities, making it truly inclusive.

by Samarpita Banerjee
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Canadian Relationship App Couply Won Collision 2021 Pitch Competition

BUSINESS INSIDER - June 30 - The Canadian relationship app Couply won the 2021 pitch competition hosted by Collision, a Toronto-based technology conference attended by thousands of industry giants. Founded by Tim Johnson and Denesh Raymond, Couply is a free relationship app designed to inspire couples to deepen their connection with fun features like personality quizzes, which then help aid the process of planning dates that are mutually enjoyable. Since its launch in December of 2020, Couply has grown from a few downloads a day to 1K downloads a week, with its daily download rate doubling each month as a result of word of mouth.

by Sarah Finkel
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Men Are More Likely to Feel Comfortable Dating in the Current COVID-19 Climate

BUSINESS INSIDER - Apr 23 - A Morning Consult poll said 49% of US adults feel safe going on a date right now. Men in the survey felt ten percentage points more comfortable dating at the moment than women. 54% of men in the US said they would feel comfortable dating right now compared to 44% of women who said the same.

by Madison Hall
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The CEO of Hinge Predicts a Relationship Boom This Summer

BUSINESS INSIDER - Apr 12 - Hinge had a surprisingly successful 2020. CEO Justin McLeod expects to see more users looking for long-term relationships. He also thinks quick, preliminary video dates will become a permanent part of dating, post-pandemic. According to Hinge's Q4 2020 results, the company tripled its revenues compared with 2019. Its global downloads rose by 63%. Hinge's growth outstripped Tinder, Badoo, Bumble, Happn, and Plenty of Fish.

by Isobel Asher Hamilton
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Tinder Is Giving out 1K Free COVID-19 Tests to Encourage People to Go on Dates Again

BUSINESS INSIDER - Mar 16 - Tinder is giving out 1K free COVID-19 tests so that couples can go on a date. Tinder users can claim the testing kits via the app, starting Saturday. Users in the US will be able to reserve two tests directly via the app - one for them, and one for their match.

by Grace Dean
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