THE SCOTSMAN – Apr 15 – Toscafund has sold its entire 16% holding (11.2M shares, worth £5.1m) in Cupid. Cupid CEO Phil Gripton said he was not aware of the reason for the share sale. Cupid floated in June 2010, and fell to a £2.8M loss last year.
by Gareth Mackie and Terry Murden
See full article at The Scotsman
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.
CLICKZ – Apr 14 – HAW's customer acquisition campaign in Q4 2013 used Twitter's geo- and interest-targeting to reach couples in five markets. Promoted tweets offered $50 off dating experiences booked through the service. The company found that leads coming from the Twitter promotion were 20% more likely to convert to paying subscribers than other channels, including the website and emails. 30% of its total traffic now comes from Twitter.
by Susan Kuchinskas
See full article at ClickZ
This post also appears on OnlinePersonalsWatch.
TECH CRUNCH – Apr 14 – HeavenlySinful is like Tinder but it asks users to state what they’re after each time they open up the app. Their intentions, either Heavenly or Sinful, are then put on a mood map for people nearby to see who in their neighborhood is feeling frisky or looking for something legit. Right now, the company can generate revenue of in-app purchases for stickers and such, but eventually the team is considering implementing a system that lets someone pay to talk to another user if they didn’t get a match.
NY POST – Apr 14 - Glimpse is a free dating app that launched in early February. The app lets users "smile" at potential mates based not on only their profile pictures but also on their Instagram photos. Most people use Instagram to document their daily lives so Glimpse users get a natural and up-to-date peek into someone’s world. The app has a 70% reply rate. It is invite-only, but expected to be open to everyone in early May.
by Annie Daly
See full article at NY Post
PR NEWSWIRE – Apr 14 – Britain’s top 100 companies with the fastest growing profits have been revealed in the 15th annual Sunday Times BDO Profit Track 100. Global Personals ranked #34, going up six places from last year.
NBC NEWS – Apr 12 – In 2012, online dating scams cost Americans ~$55M, according to Internet Crime Complaint Center. Tinder is relatively new but extremely popular. "Because there are so many people using the app, it’s a ripe target for scammers," Satnam Narang, security response manager at Symantec. Scammers often use bots (software that can answer questions with automated responses) to initiate contact with people looking for a date. There have not been any headline-grabbing scams involving Tinder. But on other dating sites, people have been taken for thousands of dollars and allegedly convinced to do things like smuggle drugs into Argentina.
TELEGRAPH.CO.UK – Apr 12 – Adultery is good for your marriage if you don’t get caught, says Noel Biderman, founder of Ashley Madison. Since launching in Canada on Valentine’s Day in 2002, it has attracted ~24M members in 37 countries, with South Korea launched last week. “Infidelity exists in every culture in the world,” said Mr Biderman. “In the lifetime of a relationship, ~70- 80% of men are going to be unfaithful at some point in their marriages. And the female side is incredibly on the rise – it’s well past 40%.”
WIRED – Apr 11 – Could a site that’s just 20 months old with no revenue model to speak of really be worth $5 billion? The answer was no. Shortly after Bloomberg reported the story Sam Yagan, CEO of IAC’s Match Group, told Forbes while he could confirm a deal was made, “this valuation is nowhere near the truth.”
Tinder eliminates the fear of rejection. “Tinder’s really doing something that has been the Holy Grail for online dating: it becomes fun,” says Mark Brooks, a consultant to the Internet dating industry. Match.com, Brooks notes, has reached a point at which it can only really grow through acquisition or by targeting audiences that would never join dating sites to begin with. Tinder users, many of whom would scoff at “real” online dating, are one such audience. “IAC’s not valuing Tinder based on what it’s worth. They’re valuing it based on what they’ll lose if they don’t own it,” says Brooks. “If Tinder can own mobile and own the younger demographic, then IAC is owning the future with Tinder. It’s an international phenomenon.”
by Issie Lapowsky
See full article at Wired
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.
OPW – Apr 12 – New iDating jobs listing is live on the Internet Dating Jobs blog.
Below see a couple of this month's most interesting offers:
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From our esteemed Courtland Brooks clients:
Global Personals USA (Webdate, Fling, WealthyMen)
Product Manager
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eDarling.de
Head of Global Brand Management
eHarmony
Director, Systems Operations
FriendFinder Networks
Creative Director
Meetme
Director of Systems Operations
SpeedDate
Director of Marketing – Display
To see more open positions go here.
Do you have an idating industry job offer which is not included? Please, send it to petra@courtlandbrooks.com and we will add it to the list.
INDIEGOGO – Apr 7 – Kissenger is the world's first true kiss transfer device. It is designed to be used in parallel with any PC/MAC webchat platform.