Month: February 2015

Neqtr Raises Money On GoFundMe

Posted on February 10, 2015

Neqtr logoOPW – Feb 10 – Not many dating sites have used crowdfunding to raise money, but then Neqtr is as unusual as they come. Led by a ragtag team of do-gooder geeks, they intend to help people meet on do-good dates. i.e. dates where they volunteer to help. It's a lovely idea. OneBrick.org is a non-dating version of this concept from 14 years ago. Sonya Davis, the CEO, is looking to go on 6 week start-up accelerator. A month into her raise, she's got $565 of $2000 raised.  If you'd like to help. Click here. She's a good egg, and we'd like to see how far she can get Neqtr on good-will alone. Or just go to Neqtr.com and buy a t-shirt for goodness sakes.  

Post by Mark Brooks @ Courtland Brooks Internet Dating Marketing Consulting

Double Sends Users On A Double Date With Facebook Friends

Posted on February 10, 2015

Double logoREUTERS – Feb 10 – UK dating site Double pairs up two Facebook friends to go on a joint date with two other friends they meet through the website's local network. Starting in London, Double plans to expand in cities across Britain, before looking to the US and worldwide.

See full article at DailyMail.co.uk

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Summarized by Courtland Brooks Internet Dating Marketing Consulting

A Bot Selects Tinder Dates

Posted on February 10, 2015

Tinder botTECH CRUNCH – Feb 10 – Vancouver-based developer Justin Long created a software that automates Tinder swiping. The software analyzes the facial features of each potential mate — and then likes or dislikes each based on the users' own previously expressed aesthetic choices. The user is required to make 60 yes/no choices before the bot has enough data to choose on their behalf. The Tinder bot can even start conversations with potential mates.

by Natasha Lomas
See full article at Tech Crunch

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Summarized by Courtland Brooks Internet Dating Marketing Consulting

Dating Apps Created By Women For Women

Posted on February 10, 2015

CoffeemeetsbagelappFORTUNE – Feb 10 – Women have been subjected to harassing comments on dating apps, like Tinder and OkCupid, which have been created by largely male teams. Several new dating apps have been created by women such as Coffee Meets Bagel that has attracted $2.8M in funding, and Bumble. On Bumble, only women can initiate the conversation. Three Bay-Area sisters, Arum, Dawoon and Soo Kang launched Coffee Meets Bagel. It uses Facebook info to match users with friends of friends. They get one match a day. If both parties decide they want the introduction, the app sends an ice-breaker question to both. Dattch is a dating app aimed at lesbians. Dattch features a pinterest-like layout which is heavy on pictures. The pictures remove the need for self-description and instead drive conversation towards interests and hobbies.

by Shalene Gupta
See full article at Fortune

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Summarized by Courtland Brooks Internet Dating Marketing Consulting

Happn, The Dating App That ‘Takes Stalking To A New Level’

Posted on February 10, 2015

Happn screenshot1BUSINESS INSIDER – Feb 10 - Happn is the latest addition to the app-based dating scene. It secured $8M, and now boasts ~2M downloads and 700K active monthly users. Around a third of those are in London. Happn uses GPS to connect users who cross paths within a 250 metre radius. There’s no swiping. If users want to grab someone’s attention they can send a “charm.” A small fee is involved for men who want to send out charms. Happn is already in Paris, London, New York, Sydney, and parts of South America, and the team wants to see it expand internationally in the next year or so.

by Joshua Barrie
See full article at Business Insider

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Summarized by Courtland Brooks Internet Dating Marketing Consulting

The Mathematical Formula For Love

Posted on February 10, 2015

Love formulaBBC – Feb 10 – How do we find the right person and keep them? Hannah Fry, author of The Mathematics of Love, says three things make the magic formula.

  • Be proud: Play up to whatever makes you different.
    OkCupid team discovered that those that were rated as both very beautiful and very ugly – did far better than those who everyone agreed were quite cute.
  • Be proactive: Go out and get what you want.
  • Be provokable: Speak up if something bothers you.

See full article at BBC

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Summarized by Courtland Brooks Internet Dating Marketing Consulting

The League Is the Recent “Elitist” Dating App

Posted on February 9, 2015

The league logoCBS NEWS – Feb 9 - The League is a new dating app that is free to sign up to, but unlike others, it's not so easy to join. It's only active in San Francisco and already has a wait list of 75K people. To join, prospective members have to apply, and share both their Facebook and LinkedIn profiles. A computer formula helps sort through applications, and then the team decides whether to approve people based on selective criteria including their education, job, interests and even photos. The League sends members just five prospects per day on the theory of quality over quantity. The app launched in November and already claims 5,500 members.

See full article at CBS News

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Summarized by Courtland Brooks Internet Dating Marketing Consulting

Invisible Boyfriend Offers Virtual Love

Posted on February 9, 2015

Invisible boyfriend logoTHE GUARDIAN – Feb 9 – Taobao, China’s version of Amazon, offers virtual girlfriends and boyfriends for $2 per day. These are real humans, but they only relate with their paying customers via the phone to perform fairly unromantic tasks such as wake up calls, good night calls, and “sympathetically listen to clients’ complaints”. Similar services already exist in India, where biwihotohaisi.com helps bachelors “practice” for married life with a virtual wife. A new US app, Invisible Boyfriend, allows users to customise the looks, personality and interests of an imaginary male partner and pay $25 for his virtual company.

by Thomas Chamorro-Premuzic
See full article at The Guardian

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Summarized by Courtland Brooks Internet Dating Marketing Consulting

Online Dating Assistants

Posted on February 9, 2015

Livedatingadvice screenshotCNN MONEY – Feb 9 – "People on dating sites need a lot of help", said Scott Valdez, founder of Virtual Dating Assistants. Valdez was an active Match.com and POF user himself. "I found a writer on Craigslist and paid him to send my messages for me," he said. Soon, friends and family were begging to use his assistant too. So in 2009, he launched Virtual Dating Assistants. The business offers profile writing for $200 or communication, which runs about $23 an hour. Tinder packages run a bit more, $25 to $30 per hour. Writer Lisa Hoehn also became an online dating coach. Her "Profile Polish" offers three packages, which range from $48 for a "Tinder special" with photo insight and editing help, to a $98 profile analysis, to $198 for the "whole shebang." LiveDatingAdvice.com launched this month with $250K in funding from the founding team, friends and family. The founders — dating coaches Hunt Ethridge, Antonia Geno and Israel Irensteing — plan to make dating assistants virtually accessible to the masses. They are offering its services on pre-sale now for $49 a month, which will give clients live advice, daily access to a trained dating adviser, and a free profile review.

by Sara Ashley O'Brien
The full article was originally published at WPTV, but is no longer available.

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Blued Gay App Explores Overseas Market

Posted on February 9, 2015

Blued screenshot homepageECNS – Feb 9 – Chinese gay dating app Blued unveiled its international version in the Netherlands. Blued founder and CEO Geng Le said the decision to launch in the Netherlands was because it was the first country to legalize same-sex marriage and is a "paradise" for homosexuals. Geng Le launched the app in 2011, and it now has 15M subscribers with 3M daily active users. The app recently pulled in $30M in third-round financing.

See full article at ECNS

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Summarized by Courtland Brooks Internet Dating Marketing Consulting