DAILYMAIL.CO.UK – Nov 22 – 3% of Tinder's 50M users are now aged between 45 and 54. And last generation of 'pre-internet adults', aged 35 – 44, now make up 12%. Tinder, estimated to be worth ~£1B, was founded in Sep 2012 and is now recruiting 20K new users every day. Users tend to log in 11 times a day for sessions of eight minutes.
Month: November 2014
Jiayuan Q3 2014 Results: 26% Increase In Revenue
PR NEWSWIRE – Nov 20 – Q3 net revenue was $26.3M, up 25.5% YOY. Net income was $473K, compared to $2.9M in Q3 2012. Average monthly active user accounts reached a record high 6.2M, a 13.6% increase YOY. Average monthly paying user accounts were 1.5M, an 11.3% increase YOY. Jiayuan is increasingly shifting towards mobile with mobile log-ins accounting for 70% of all log-ins during Q3.
How She Did It: Q&A With Alexandra Chong On Founding Lulu
FORBES – Nov 20 – Alexandra Chong is the Founder & CEO of Lulu, the provocative female app that allows users to rate men.
Q: What inspired you?
A: I graduated with a law degree from LSE, and I went to work in the legal department of a music licensing start-up. I quickly realized I wanted to start my own business. I went to a brunch with a group of girls after Valentine’s Day. It was a table of just women sharing stories about guys. I concluded that women needed their own network for sharing with other women.
Q: What were some of the tactics you used to get Lulu off the ground fast?
A: We went directly to our customers. College sororities and fraternities seemed like a great fit, so we ran a beta at two colleges in Fl. Within just a few weeks, we had 40% of girls and 60% guys on a campus on Lulu!
Q: What were some of the challenges you faced?
A: I don’t have a technical background, so I needed a very strong technical lead. Our CTO, Hassan Chahrour, was one of my first hires.
Q: What do you see as the future of dating and the emergence of accompanying tools, in particular?
A: Online dating is now the norm. We hear from users that dating without a reference is a scary thing. Lulu provides a critical information layer for the dating industry.
Q: What successes have you achieved so far at Lulu?
A: We’ve reached millions of girls in the US, including one in four US college girls. We hit #1 in the App Store in Brazil just one week after launch.
Q: Do you have any advice for other professionals aspiring to start their own business?
A: It all starts with the team. Find people that are smarter than you who you believe in and want to work with.
Cuddlr: The App That’s About Cuddling
BUSINESS INSIDER – Nov 20 - Cuddlr app has been questioned a lot since it launched worldwide in Sep. Some criticise it for being male-dominated, while others have complained of meeting up for a cuddle, only to be stood up. According to Cuddlr's co-founder, Charlie Williams, the app has been downloaded 214K times and saw ~9K "cuddles" in the first week of launch. Cuddlr works like Tinder. People connect the app to their Facebook profile, and the app shares the first name and pictures of cuddle candidates within walking distance. Users tap the picture to request a cuddle.
Unlocking Tinder Could Lead To $5 Billion Spinoff For IAC’s Dating Biz
THE STREET – Nov 18 - Tinder success is fueling speculation that IAC will spin-off Match Group. Match Group may be worth as much as $5.3B. A spin-off would unlock a much higher valuation for IAC's dating websites and apps than the rest of IAC. Tinder alone could be worth $1.1B by the end of 2015.
Gay Dating App Join Forces To Decrease Attacks On LGBT People
LATIN POST – Nov 18 – 11 social networking and dating apps, including Grindr, Scruff, Jack'd, Hornet and Manhunt, have joined forces to decrease "violent attacks" on LGBT people who meet via social media interaction. They are providing discounts on the ads of Anti-Violence Project (AVP). AVP has created a platform that offers counseling to men and women about how to prevent hazardous situations and how they can report assaults.
by Marcus Scott
See full article at Latin Post
CoupleHang: For Couples To Meet Like-minded Couples Nearby
BETABEAT – Nov 18 – CoupleHang is a new service that works like a dating site, except it’s for couples in need of other couple-friends. The site’s currently in beta testing, but will publicly launch on Dec. 31. The site is free to use, but couples can elect to upgrade to a premium account for $9.95/month.
Lavalife Is Relaunching This Week
CNW – Nov 18 – Lavalife.com, Canada's longest standing dating site, is ready to unveil their new website. Lavalife is moving away from algorithms. Its new campaign ads will start to populate in January 2015. The focus of the creative will focus on "fun and exciting moments" of dating rather than the end result, with two people sharing experiences and interests rather than highly romantic and intimate moments.
The full article was originally published at Broadcaster Magazine, but is no longer available.
Mark Brooks To Provide A 3-Hour Session At iDate In Las Vegas
WEBWIRE – Nov 18 – Mark Brooks will provide a special 3 hour session – “Introduction to the Online Dating Business” on January 20th, 2015 during Internet Dating Conference (iDate), Las Vegas. The session will cover business models, revenues and profits of online dating businesses, software selection, marketing strategies, latest business trends, new technologies, and more.
Asian Dating App “Paktor” Gets Another Funding
TECH IN ASIA – Nov 18 – Paktor, a Singapore-based dating app with ~1.5M registered users, has raised $5M in the last 12 months. The company has just announced its latest funding from Vertex Venture, a VC subsidiary of Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings. The money will be used to expand into new markets like Malaysia by next quarter. Its key markets have been Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, and Taiwan. It will also release a desktop version of its app, and will venture into offline matchmaking.
by Terence Lee
See full article at Tech In Asia
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.