ZOOSK – Feb 8 – Zoosk has launched a new US military verification, called Insignia. It utilizes a third-party service to review and verify a member's U.S. military service in order to help reduce military romance scams. Verified user gets "Insignia" badge that lets other members know that he/she is a member of the U.S. Military Personnel or Reservists. Zoosk is partnering with SheerID, but this service depends on a variety of third-party sources of information. "We cannot guarantee the identity or service record of any member", Zoosk added.
Month: February 2018
Study: Grindr And Jack’d Could Allow Hackers To Steal Users’ Data
GAY STAR NEWS – Feb 6 – A postgraduate student has published evidence showing gay dating apps Grindr and Jack’d have a major data flaw that could allow hackers to steal users’ personal data. Jason Chao says he can prove the apps are not encrypting data sent to third party advertisers. This allows anyone to intercept the data transfer, and steal it. ‘I am not the first one to discover Grindr and Jack’d being leaky. Researchers at a Japanese university were the first ones to point out the issue of both apps sending unencrypted data to third-party advertisers. However, they only saw evidence of device models and carrier names being susceptible to hackers. But in my study, I also found personal data is accessible too.’
by Jamie Wareham
See full article at Gay Star News
Q&A With Ollie Locke, Co-founder Of Chappy
THE MEMO – Feb 6 – Locke rose to fame as a TV personality after he appeared in the first season of E4's Made in Chelsea, during which he became the first person to come out as bisexual on British TV. Outside of his TV work, Locke wrote the best-selling book Laid in Chelsea, and in 2016 launched gay dating app Chappy along with co-founders Jack Rogers and Max Cheremkhin.
Q: What apps do you use to be more productive?
A: I'm a huge advocate of Slack. It's a great way for me and the team to stay on top of all the various projects we're working on.
Q: What book have you read that has inspired you?
A: I'm currently reading Straight Jacket by Matthew Todd and Elon Musk: How the Billionaire CEO of SpaceX and Tesla is Shaping our Future by Ashlee Vance. Elon is a huge inspiration for me, and Matthew Todd's personal experience helps me further understand the Chappy audience.
Q: What advice would you give for people who are eager to get into your industry?
A: You must have heart and compassion.
Q: What do you think your industry will look like in 10 years?
A: I predict a far more 360° approach to digital dating as dating apps start to really explore building lifestyle brands.
Match Group Q4 Financial Results, Revenue Up 28%, Loss $9M
PRESS RELEASE – Feb 7 – Match Group now has ~7M subscribers across its businesses and 3M at Tinder alone. Total Revenue grew 28% YOY to $379M, driven by 24% growth in Average Subscribers to 7M and a 4% increase in ARPU. Operating income was $128M, an increase of 13% YOY, while Adjusted EBITDA increased 20% over the prior year quarter to $153 million. Net loss of $9M, driven by the inclusion of $92M of discrete tax charges related to U.S. tax reform. Excluding these discrete tax charges, Match Group would have reported net income of $83M.
Whitney Wolfe Herd To Speak At SXSW 2018
HI-TECH CRONICLE – Feb 6 – Bumble founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd will speak at SXSW this year. Along with luminaries like Michael Dell and Melinda Gates – both scheduled to appear as keynote speakers during this year's event – and an array of other influencers, Herd will share the secrets of her success.
Gay Dating App Blued Raised $100M
DEALSTREET ASIA – Feb 5 – Blued secures $100m in Series D funding round. The latest round was led by CDH Investments and UG Capital Investment, marking the seventh round of financing. Launched in 2012, Blued has become one of the world's most popular free gay social apps, attracting ~15M users worldwide. Blued CEO Geng Le said the company will make further efforts to optimize and upgrade products and services.
by Mars Woo
See full article at Dealstreet Asia
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.
Making It Happn In India
THE HINDU – Feb 5 – Online dating has caught up in India as is evident with the plethora of apps and sites like Tinder, Truly Madly, Woo, Bumble, Moco and OkCupid. Considering the growing market, new players are entering with Happn being the latest one. Launched in Paris in 2014 and spread across 18 countries, it has 45M users. Happn reached India in 2017 and now boasts ~1M users in Delhi alone besides having a sizeable presence in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Allahabad. Didier Rappaport, the app's founder says, "Unlike others we don't provide a catalogue of people's profiles which can be swiped. We connect people as it happens in real world by using two important technologies, hyper-localisation and real time." Making the app interactive is its See You There feature. It informs that the user is up for sharing an activity, like going for a walk, catching a movie, or go for a walk or grab a bite, in the next six hours.
by S. Ravi
See full article at The Hindu
Billion-Dollar Bumble
FORBES AFRICA – Feb 5 – Whitney Wolfe Herd's dating app Bumble began monetizing via in-app purchases only in August 2016 and crossed $100M in sales in 2017. It has amassed ~22M registered users. (Tinder has 46M), and at ~70% YOY growth, to Tinder's ~10%, it's closing the gap quickly. More than 10% of Bumble's users pay $9.99 for a monthly subscription. At Tinder, just about 5% of users pay for a similar service, according to a report from the investment firm Jefferies. Herd turned down a $450M buyout offer from Match Group in early 2017, according to sources with knowledge of the conversations. And these sources maintain that Match approached the company again later in the year to discuss a valuation well over $1B. Herd wouldn't comment on the attempted buyouts, but selling to Tinder's parent and folding Bumble under the same corporate umbrella would, of course, serve as a poetic coda to the ugliness of 2014.
Date Protect App Is Online Dating Safety Assistant
NEWSWATCHTV – Feb 5 – Date Protect is an online dating safety assistant that helps users stay connected with their loved ones, so they know their status throughout the date. All they have to do is download the app on their iPhone, upload a photo of the person they're meeting, and enter the address of where they're going to be.
Bumble Expanding Its Austin Headquarters
