The OPW/iDate Weekly News Summary.
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:~ TOP ONLINE PERSONALS WATCH NEWS ~:
German Dating App, LemonSwan, Raised a 7-Digit Round
GRUENDER - July 29 - There are currently ~17M single people in Germany. The online dating revenue in the country will be reach ~212M euros in 2020. The market is dominated by large providers such as Parship or Elitepartner, who aggressively advertise on TV and at S-Bahn stations. So are the large pieces of the cake already distributed? Arne Kahlke and Paul Uhlig don't believe that. The two are founders of dating app Lemon Swan. The app, which claims 250K users, launched 3 years ago. Kahlke has a lot of experience in connecting people. He not only built up Parship's marketing, but also founded ElitePartner in 2004 and sold the company to ProSiebenSat1. Lemon Swan's matching process is similar to that of ElitePartner and Parship - the app works with a psychological personality test and a matching algorithm - but so-called bouncers are also used to check users identity. After a capital injection in January 2019, the start-up has now received fresh capital in the seven-figure range. With the money, LemonSwan wants to become profitable in the German-speaking region in the Q1 2021, and to expand internationally.
The Meet Group Launches DateNight to MeetMe and Skout
BUSINESS WIRE - July 28 - The Meet Group, a leading provider of interactive dating solutions, is launching DateNight interactive feature, which makes anyone the star of their own dating game. DateNight is a livestreaming dating game that offers rewards to anyone who plays. Daters who match during a DateNight event will receive a free $10 gift card to one of 18 different national chain restaurants, giving away up to $15K worth of first dates every day. DateNight events will occur on Thursdays from 9:00 - 11:00 p.m. EDT throughout July and August.
Bumble Hits 4 Million Users in India
HINDUSTAN TIMES - July 30 - Bumble reached 2M users last December. Women in India are also sending twice the number of messages on Bumble as compared to users globally. Also, 32% of women users in India use more than one mode on Bumble. In addition to dating, Bumble offers 'BFF' and 'Bizz' modes as well.
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RealMe - Making dating apps safer
RealMe serves consumer safety by addressing the growing issues of fraud, scams, and abuse. The RealMe platform makes dating apps safer and more trusted through identity verification, background checks, and giving insight on reputation.Get a turnkey, no-cost solution to protect your dating app members. Contact neil@realmehq.com
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Grindr Seeks to Push Data Privacy Suit Into Arbitration
LAW360 - Aug 3 - Grindr has urged a New York federal court to push into arbitration a proposed class action claiming it illegally shared users' personal data with advertisers, claiming users agreed to arbitrate such claims in the app's terms and conditions.
OKCupid Debuts New Matching System for Online Dating
FORBES - Aug 3 - OKCupid rolled out a redesign this week that introduced a new matching system. The system, named "Stacks," unveils potential matches with new categories, including: Recommended, Question Pros, Online, Nearby, New People (for paid subscribers), Popular (for paid subscribers) and Match Percentage.
91M People Tap This Dating App of Destiny
OZY.COM - July 29 - Dating app Happn uses geolocation tools to recreate chance encounters, and now has 91M users in 17 countries. Founder Didier Rappaport foresees a new phase of AI-influenced online dating, but with real-life magic added in. "Romance is about coincidence," says Happn founder Didier Rappaport. "One day you're in front of someone that will become your one." The app launched in 2014, and over time introduced new ways to connect online, like CrushTime, a game where users can see four nearby profiles and guess which one has liked their photo in order to match with them.
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*Courtland Brooks* helps Internet dating companies grow with strategic advisory from seasoned professionals, business development, marketing and media relations services. For the price of a marketing manager you get access to a team of seasoned Internet dating professionals. Email mark@courtlandbrooks.com for more info.
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Dating Is Costing Brits £1,300 a Year
MARIECLAIRE.CO.UK - July 28 - Looking for love is costing single Brits ~£1,349 a year. Plenty of Fish surveyed 2K single adults and found that on average, they go on thirteen dates a year with each meet-up costing ~£106.06.
Kippo - a Dating App for Gamers
WMMR.COM - July 30 - According to ESA, there are ~164M gamers in the US alone. Kippo is a new dating/social app dedicated to gamers, founded by David Park. One way Kippo is setting itself apart from other apps is a unique "card" system. In the cards, users can list their top ten games, their Myers-Briggs Personality profile, and a multitude of other interests that can get them the most like-minded matches.
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The OPW/iDate Dating Business Insider is first and the largest weekly news summary in the dating industry. Since 2004.
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