MONYEISH – Nov 15 – A year ago, Hinge redesigned its interface and rebranded itself a "relationship app." Instead of swiping, users are required to answer select prompts (sample Q: "most spontaneous thing I've done?") and like and comment on the responses and images of potential partners. Users get a restricted number of free daily matches, but paying $7 a month opens up more options. And now, Hinge has released data as to the redesign's impact. According to Hinge, downloads of the app have increased by 130% in the past year. Users are liking each other less but engagement after a match is up 50%. A large number of Hinge users now say they're looking for more than a quick fling.
Month: November 2017
2017’s Best & Worst Cities For Singles
WALLETHUB – Nov 13 – WalletHub's analysts compared 180 U.S. cities across 32 key indicators of dating-friendliness. Their data set ranges from share of single population to number of online dating opportunities to nightlife options per capita. The best cities to be single are San Francisco, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Denver and San Diego. See the full list here.
Match Group Rumored To Offer $1B For Bumble
FORBES – Nov 14 – Bumble began monetizing via in-app purchases only in Aug 2016 and will cross $100M in sales this year, a figure that – aided by the introduction of tailored, hyperlocal advertising – is projected to double in 2018. Herd turned down a $450M buyout offer from the Match Group earlier this year, according to sources with knowledge of the conversations. And these sources maintain that Match approached the company again this fall to discuss a valuation well over $1B. Match declined to comment. ~10% of Bumble's users pay $9.99 for a monthly subscription. At Tinder, just ~5% of users pay for a similar service. Bumble took an initial ~10M investment from Badoo's founder Andrey Andreev for launch marketing in exchange for 79% of the company. Bumble has 70 employees, ~85% of whom are women. Bumble has recently launched BFF, an offshoot that focuses on platonic connections between women, and Bizz, which offers a challenge to LinkedIn. Bumble BFF has been tried by ~3M users, but just 500K are active in a typical month. Bumble Bizz is too new to evaluate.
by Clare O'Connor
See full article at Forbes
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Heterosexuals Are Obsessed With Height In Online Dating
MASHABLE – Nov 17 – In online dating, height appears to be an immensely valuable currency. Author and "dating coach" James Preece says dating apps encourage us to be "incredibly picky" and to rule out individuals based on arbitrary qualities. "Tall men know that their height is a big selling point, so they'll mention it to attract women," says Preece. Salonee Gadgil, co-host of dating podcast The Swipe Hype, doesn't necessarily think it's a bad thing to swipe left on someone because of a physical attribute. "I don't particularly like long hair, and don't find men with long hair attractive, so I would swipe left. Does that mean I am discriminating? Not really," says Gadgil. Benjamin G. Voyer – a psychology and behavioural science professor at London School of Economics – says the allure of height boils down to evolution. "Height is a sign of health, and we are looking for health characteristics when we look for potential romantic partners," says Voyer.
Interview With Happy Couple’s Founder, Julien Robert :: HC Is Raising Capital
What's your founding story?
The origin story of the Happy Couple app is the story of a real-life happy couple: Julien and Erin. At first, there was Julien, a French serial entrepreneur and a serial dater, who spent most of his time building businesses and very little time building relationships. Until one day, following a series of life events, Julien decided to reexamine his life, both as an individual and as a partner. Under the guidance of a therapist, Julien began to ask questions to not only learn about himself, but also to understand his partner at the time and what it meant for each of them to be in a relationship. Equipped with life-changing insights and a new approach to relationships, Julien ran into Erin, a Google designer based in San Francisco. And the rest, as they say, is history. But wait! Julien and Erin set out to make history. It didn't take them long to realize that in addition to their mutual attraction and a genuine meeting of minds, they also shared a passion for creating an opportunity for other couples to discover each other in a fun and easy way, start meaningful conversations, and nurture closeness. As Julien began to think of ways to "connect his heart and his brain" (after all, the guy is an engineer), the idea of an app was born. Erin and Julien joined their skills and talents, Julien working full-time and Erin dedicating her weeknights and weekends. They launched Happy Couple app in late 2015. Designed as a game app, Happy Couple provides couples with questions across different life topics, aimed at helping partners to learn about each other in a playful, yet meaningful, way. Thus, one couple’s story of self-discovery and belief in a conscious approach to relationship-building became an inspiration for millions of couples around the world to revisit (and sometimes rebuild) their own relationships by asking questions and starting conversations they otherwise might never have. (And, have fun along the way!)
What does Happy Couple do, for whom?
Happy Couple is a game app for couples at any stage of a relationship, straight or gay, young or not so young. The only requirement: it takes two to play. Couples answer questions from six different life topics, for themselves and for each other, to find out how well they know each other, or to discover something new. When their answers match, they unlock new levels and gain access to more questions. There are also customized questions and tips on building closeness. But beyond the playfulness of the app lies a deeper purpose: to provide couples with an opportunity to ask questions they may never have thought to ask, or just wouldn’t know how.
How many users do you have at this stage?
We have reached half a million unique downloads in two years since the launch. Keep in mind that we have acquired all of our users without any marketing campaigns or outreach. The numbers we have reached so far are thanks to organic searches and referrals.
Here's the breakdown of user behavior:
- 20K daily active users (DAU)
- 35K weekly active users (WAU)
- 60K monthly active users (MAU)
Our most dedicated users play 300+ days in a row. Also, only two years after we launched, our users have been answering more than 100 million questions!
Why should the dating industry take notice? How might you work with them?
Most, if not all, dating apps are focused on introducing people to each other, with a goal of getting them to meet in person and, ultimately, to get into a relationship. When dating apps do a good job, they lose their users. Happy Couple picks up at that point, helping couples to discover each other and further develop their relationship. If you were to look at dating as a user journey, you could say that Happy Couple addresses users' needs at a point where other dating apps stop or become irrelevant. So, we like to think that we offer a continuation of services, rather than work in direct competition with other dating apps. In that regard, we are open to offering our content and technology under white label to other dating app publishers. By using our technology under their own brand, app publishers can extend their user lifetime, increase time spent in app, and boost user lifetime value.
Even though Happy Couple differs from other dating apps in the sense that the focus is on a couple, versus individuals looking for a date and/or relationship, the way users interact with Happy Couple is similar to the game-style experience they have with a number of other popular dating apps: it's easy to use, playful, and fun. For example, if on Tinder users swipe right or left to find a match, in Happy Couple, users answer questions about themselves and their partners, and if their answers match, they earn points. What's different about Happy Couple is the wealth of content, in the form of questions and tips, that offers more substance and opportunities for user engagement. To that end, Happy Couple can share the API and provide access to content, including questions that serve as conversation starters for users and keep them engaged and returning to an app.
Are you raising money now?
Yes.
What have you raised so far and what will you do with your next raise?
We've raised $600K so far, and plan to raise $500K to invest in marketing and content, with primary focus on user acquisition. We are also looking into offering premium subscriptions for paying users and boosting efforts to keep our existing users more and more engaged and returning to the app more frequently. At the moment, the majority of the app's active couples are daily users. So, we would like to provide them with more in-app activities to help keep up their daily habit.
Post by Mark Brooks @ Courtland Brooks
LUCK, A New Austin Dating App Makes Men Work Harder
by Susan Johnston Taylor
See full article at Culture Map Austin
Tinder And Grindr Don’t Want To Talk About Their Role In Rising STDs
by Julia Beluz
See full article at Vox
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Q&A With CEO Of The League, Amanda Bradford
HARVARD LAW TODAY – Nov 9 – Amanda Bradford, the founder and CEO of The League, a dating app aimed at ambitious young professionals, joined the Harvard Association for Law and Business (HALB) for a Q&A. The app was officially launched in early 2015. After raising money largely from female investors during the early stages, she was able to get other venture capital firms on board. Bradford advised students in the audience considering startup work in the future to surround themselves with the best-in-class people in the industry and get experience doing the unglamorous tasks that drive the company forward. Bradford’s work at Salesforce and Google taught her important lessons about product development, marketing, and building a strong internal culture that guide her as a CEO today.
Bumble Has Hired Celebrity Sister Executives
BUSINESS INSIDER – Nov 9 – Erin and Sara Foster, who are known for their satirical portrayal of Hollywood on Barely Famous, are thrilled to bring a fresh perspective to Bumble as Heads of Creative for Bumble BFF and Bumble Bizz. For the remainder of 2017, the sisters plan to focus on brand awareness for Bumble.
Chargeback Statistics
The full article was originally published at Kount Blog, but is no longer available.