September 2017 – Page 5 – Online Personals Watch

Matrimony.com Opens Its IPO

Posted on September 12, 2017

BLOOMBERG – Sep 11 – India's biggest online matchmaker is selling shares in Matrimony.com for ~$15 apiece. Backed by Silicon Valley investor Bessemer Venture Partners, Matrimony.com expects to raise as much as 5B rupees ($78M) with the IPO closing on Wednesday. The startup has already raised funds from Goldman Sachs India Ltd., BNP Paribas Arbitrage Baring Private Equity India AIF.

by Saritha Rai
See full article at Bloomberg

See all posts on Matrimony.com

This post also appear on InternetDatingInvestments.

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Join Me At ZEST Conference In Malta Next Week

Posted on September 12, 2017

OPW – Sep 12 – Please consider joining me at the ZEST conference in Malta next week, Tue-Wed. This is a non-profit conference sponsored by the Malta Communications Authority (MCA), which is focused on the Mediterranean start-up community.

Specifically, there are sessions covering disruption, tech trends, marketing, startup ecosystems, 3D printing, the future of food, and content. See agenda.

I'm speaking on 'The Behavioral Economics of Internet Dating' and am on a panel on marketing, and leading a panel on the future of video.

I must say, Malta is growing in leaps and bounds now. It's very exciting to be here. The start-up community is still fledgling here, but the Government is committed to guiding more entrepreneurs to the light, or the sun at least. 🙂

Post by Mark Brooks @ Courtland Brooks

Dating App Buyers Wanted

Posted on September 12, 2017

OPW – Sep 12 – I'm building a list of buyers of small to medium sized dating apps. Please let me know if you're in the market for a dating app or dating service and have a budget of over $500k.

Post by Mark Brooks @ Courtland Brooks

‘Sugar Daddy’ Dating Ads ‘Illegal’ In Norway

Posted on September 11, 2017

NEWSINENGLISH – Sep 11 – A rolling billboard urging students to "Date a sugar daddy" has been ruled illegal, and ordered to be removed from the streets of Oslo. Not only does the ad violate the country's marketing laws, it violates a city law against rolling billboards. The billboard sparked criticism because it seemed to encourage young female students to date wealthy businessmen in return for shopping, travel or money. Sigurd Vedal, the man behind the online dating site advertised (RichMeetBeautiful.com), claims that the ad did not violate sexual equality laws because it was directed at "both women and men."

See full article at NewsInEnglish

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

In Japan Over 50% Of Municipalities Holding Matchmaking Events

Posted on September 11, 2017

JAPAN TIMES – Sep 11 – More than 50% of local governments in Japan are supporting singles through matchmaking and marriage seminars to help them get married. ~376k people participated in matchmaking events and other related programs, resulting in 6,177 couples getting married.

See full article at Japan Times

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Match Group Vice Chairman Sam Yagan Sells 684,583 Shares

Posted on September 11, 2017

LEDGER GAZETTE – Sep 10 – Sam Yagan has sold 684,583 shares of Match Group's stock at an average price of $21.95, for a total value of ~$15M. He now owns 464,963 shares, valued at ~$10M.

by Jennifer Salazar
See full article at Ledger Gazette

See all posts on Match Group

This post also appear on InternetDatingInvestments.

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Facebook To Add Tinder-like Feature To Its Messenger

Posted on September 11, 2017

GIZBOT – Sep 9 – It is not a secret that Facebook has copied many features from Snapchat. Now, apparently, the social network is planning to add Tinder-like features to its Messenger app. Facebook is reportedly asking people if they would like to meet up with a particular person. Users are then shown two options; "No Thanks" and "Yes". If both users tap on "Yes", Facebook will let them know that both of them have shown interest in meeting each other. Facebook has even confirmed that they are testing this feature, but only with select users.

by Chandrika Jana
See full article at Gizbot

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

Matrimony Bags $35.3M From Anchor Investors Pre IPO

Posted on September 11, 2017

INC42.COM – Sep 9 – Matrimony has reportedly raised $35.3M (225.9 Cr) in the run up to its IPO. The money was raised by 22.93 lakh shares to anchor investors including Smallcap World Fund, HDFC Trustee Company, Baring Private Equity Asia, BNP Paribas Arbitrage, Goldman Sachs India and DB International (Asia). Anchor investors are typically marquee investors that are invited to subscribe to the company’s shares ahead of its IPO. This reserved subscription is aimed to boost the popularity of the issue. The IPO will be open on September 11 and will close on September 13.

by Aparna Mishra
See full article at INC42.com

See all posts on Matrimony.com

This post also appear on InternetDatingInvestments.

Summarized by the Courtland Brooks team

A Computer Can Tell If Someone Is Gay

Posted on September 11, 2017

NEWNOWNEXT – Sep 9 – Stanford University researchers Yilun Wang and Michal Kosinski developed artificial intelligence software that used deep neural networks to extract features from 35k faces, and then classified them by sexual orientation. The program correctly distinguished between gay and straight men in 81% of cases, and between lesbians and straight women 71% of the time. Human judges, meanwhile, only got it right 61% of the time for men and 54% for women. "Gay men and women tended to have gender-atypical facial morphology, expression, and grooming styles," according to a paper Wang and Kosinski are publishing in The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.