HORIZONT.NET – Nov 20 – German dating app Lovoo now allows Bitcoins as one of its payment methods. Lovoo claims 70M registered users and 2M daily active users in Germany. The app was acquired by The Meet Group for $70M in September. Although digital currencies have not yet reached the mass market, that could change very soon. According to rumors, Amazon will soon allow Bitcoins. Amazon has not denied the rumors. Meanwhile, Lovoo is already thinking about enabling advertisers to pay with Bitcoins.
Month: November 2017
PAG Buys Controlling Stake In Zhenai.com
SCMP – Nov 21 – PAG Asia Capital, one of Asia's largest investment firms, has closed a deal to acquire a controlling stake in Zhenai.com, China's largest online matchmaking and dating service provider. The transaction size was not disclosed. Founded in 2005 by Li Song, a former Morgan Stanley executive director, Zhenai.com now boasts ~140M registered users. It is expected to generate revenues of ~1.6B yuan and a net profit of ~200M yuan ($30M) in 2017, according to the company. This compared to the 51.4M yuan ($7.7M) in 2015 net profit of Jiayuan.com, a major rival of Zhenai. Jiayuan was bought by Baihe.com, another matchmaking website last year, resulting in the country's matchmaking business being mainly split among the three companies.
by Jane Li
See full article at SCMP
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This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.
Match Group Announces Pricing Of Senior Notes Offering
PR NEWSWIRE – Nov 17 – Match Group has agreed to sell $450M aggregate principal amount of 5.000% senior notes due 2027 in a private offering. The Offering is expected to close on Dec 4, 2017, with gross proceeds from the Offering of ~$445.6M. Match Group intends to use the proceeds to redeem its existing senior notes due 2022, and to pay accrued interest and expenses associated with the redemption.
BharatMatrimony’s September Quarter Profit Rises 64%
VCCIRCLE – Nov 17 – Matrimony.com, which owns online match-making firm BharatMatrimony, reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 19.16 crore ($2.9M) for the quarter ended September, up 64% from Rs 11.69 crore a year ago. Consolidated revenue came in at Rs 83.7 crore ($12.9M), 13% higher than Rs 73.61 crore in the same quarter last year, the company said. This is the company's first quarterly result following its IPO two months ago. At Rs 859.30 apiece on the BSE, the Matrimony.com stock is trading below its debut price of Rs 985.
by Manu P. Toms
See full article at VCCircle
MouseMingle Dating Site Organises Movie Meetups
DAILY TELESCOPE – Nov 16 – Members of MouseMingle.com will gather at selected theaters and meet up with volunteer MouseMingle Guides before the movie to help connect the group. After the movie the group will eat and mingle with other fans. Over 100 locations were suggested by MouseMinglers from around the world. MouseMingle.com was founded in 2015 by Dave Tavres, a former Disneyland Tour Guide who, after years of searching other dating sites for someone who shared his love of Disney, came up with the concept of the dating site for Disney, Star Wars, and Marvel fans.
by Sarah Thompson
The full article was originally published at Daily Telescope, but is no longer available.
Millenials In India Choose Career Over Marriage: Survey
TIMES OF INDIA – Nov 16 – Millenials in India choose career over marriage followed by owning a house, studying abroad and travelling the world, says a survey conducted by matchmaking service Shaadi.com. In terms of singles playing more active role in finding their partners, 69% said they would take the first step to initiate marriage while 31% denied doing so.
“Explosive Growth” – A Book Written By Snap Interactive Founder Cliff Lerner
Match Group’s New Executive Management Appointments
PRNEWSWIRE – Nov 15 – Match Group has made a series of internal leadership appointments to coincide with Mandy Ginsberg's planned assumption of the Company's CEO role by January 1, 2018. These include:
- Elie Seidman, currently CEO of OkCupid, will become Tinder's new CEO, reporting into Ms. Ginsberg.
- Amarnath Thombre, currently Chief Strategy Officer at Match Group, will become CEO of Match Group Americas, where he will oversee Match, Match Affinity Brands, PlentyOfFish, OkCupid and Match's Latin America businesses, reporting into Ms. Ginsberg.
- Hesam Hosseini, currently CEO of PlentyOfFish, will become CEO of Match and Match Affinity Brands, reporting into Mr. Thombre.
Match Group is actively recruiting to fill the CEO positions at both OkCupid and PlentyOfFish.
Online Dating The Most Common Way Newlyweds Met In 2017
CBS LOCAL – Nov 16 – According to a new study carried out by researchers at online wedding planner The Knot, online dating and social media has become the most common way newlyweds met their partner. 19% of brides said they met their spouse through online dating or social media this year; up from 14% in 2016. Online pairings finished above meeting through friends (17%), at college (15%), or at work (12%).