Month: March 2018

“Invite And Meet” Dating App Is Looking To Raise $1M

Posted on March 14, 2018

Inviteandmeet logoOPW – Mar 13 – Invite and Meet, the experience-focused dating app, is looking to raise $1M at a $7.5M pre-money valuation to finance U.S. development. The app, positioned at the cross of Tinder and Meetup, is currently in soft launch in Miami. The company claims it is already generating revenue and will use additional funds for PR & local events, and to launch in 6 metro areas including New-York and Los Angeles. "With a 40% (MAU) retention at 60 days, we forecast to be profitable in the next 12 to 18 months" say Co-CEOs and Co-founders, father and son, Stéphane and Alexandre Lang-Willar.

This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.

Post by the IDEA team

Waving – A New App With Voice Profiles

Posted on March 14, 2018

Waving iconBUSINESS INSIDER – Mar 13 – Instead of showing profile pictures and text, Waving plays people's voice. After telling the app what a user is looking for in a potential date, it will show him/her the pictureless profiles of possible matches and lets him/her listen to the recordings they've made. Users can record themselves saying whatever they like and can title each recording as they wish, such as "Hello," "Hobbies," or "Things I Like." For now, Waving isn't policing what people say in their recordings or how they label them. Unfortunately, Waving abandons voice messages as soon as users match and then they start text messaging just like on most other dating apps.

by Katie Canales
See full article at Business Insider

Summarized by the IDEA team

Tinder Takes Age Discrimination Case To Calif. High Court

Posted on March 14, 2018

Lawsuit jan 14LAW360 – Mar 13 – Tinder filed an appeal to the California Supreme Court this week following a ruling in January that the app discriminated against people older than 30 by charging them higher prices. In a petition to the state high court, Tinder said the Jan. 29 ruling "sharply diverges" from decades of case law that says "benign and widely accepted age‐related business practices" do not flout California discrimination law.

by Bill Donahue
See full article at Law360

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Q&A With Briand Norgard, Tinder’s Chief Product Officer

Posted on March 14, 2018

Tinder brian norgardHORIZONT.NET – Mar 13 – Tinder's product chief Brian Norgard has made a major contribution to Tinder's success. Prior Tinder, Norgard founded startup Newroo, which was acquired by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp in 2006. He does not pay attention to competitors like Lovoo and others. "We do not wake up in the morning, check the headlines and see what our competitors are doing. Our motto is "Customer first". Data protection experts recently criticized Tinder for collecting and sharing personal information of users. When asked if Tinder shares user data with third parties, Mr Norgard denied it. "No, we do not do that," he said. He is also not concerned about Tinder's bad image as a hook up app. "Our users are looking for new friends, contacts in a new city or serious relationships."

by Giuseppe Rondinella
See full article at Horizon.net

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TheSugarBook, The Controversial Malaysian Dating Platform, To Host A Launch Party

Posted on March 14, 2018

Thesugarbook logoBUSINESS INSIDER – Mar 13 – TheSugarBook matches younger "sugar babies" with older and wealthier men and women. Their launch party is set for April 27 at the Imperial by Zouk nightspot in Kuala Lumpur. In Singapore, a Member of Parliament said that the police will keep a close watch on the platform and action will be taken if money is found to be exchanged for sexual services among users.

by Sujin Thomas
See full article at Business Insider

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Icelanders Have A Dating App That Stops Them From Accidentally Hooking Up With Their Relatives

Posted on March 13, 2018

Islendiga app iconTIMESLIVE.CO.ZA – Mar 12 – With a population of only 320k, it's one of the least densly populated countries on earth. The chances of hooking up with someone they're related to is so high that it's become something of a running joke. But they have a dating app called ÍslendingaApp SES. It evolved out of a project which began in the 90's, called Islendiga (The Book of Icelanders), which provides an almost complete record of the genealogy of the country dating back at least 300 years. Users simply place their phones next to each other and the app will tell them how closely related they are.

by Jessica Brodie
See full article at TimesLive.co.za

Summarized by the IDEA team

Wugo Gives Women Dates They Want

Posted on March 12, 2018

FORBES – Mar 12 – Wugo is a new dating app that gives women the power to propose the kinds of dates they want to go on, within 24 hours. Both men and women are setting their intention and expectations before matching. For example, if they're down to play tennis or maybe a movie. Women are able to get the dates they want, set up within a 24-hour window of matching. The app started in London by a group of serial entrepreneurs, led by Luis Villamizar. Villamizar previously cofounded Coya, the international restaurant group.

by Lisa Winning
See full article at Forbes

Summarized by the IDEA team

Zoosk Introduces Its Own “HQ Trivia” With Lively

Posted on March 12, 2018

Lively triviaADWEEK – Mar 12 – The company behind dating site and app Zoosk is putting its own spin on the HQ Trivia imitation trend with the restarting of its Lively app. Zoosk Labs debuted Lively in July 2016 as a dating app that enabled users to search for potential matches by browsing story collages made up of their videos and photos; it evolved into a group video-chatting app geared toward millennials. However, the developer said there was one missing element: Users didn't know how to initiate conversations with other users. So they incorporated several of the features that made HQ Trivia soar in popularity. In the revamped app, there are two half-hour sessions at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. ET. Players can join at any time during the session, and they will automatically be placed into teams of two through four players who compete as a team. Players can also add Snapchat-like face filters. Games last 12 questions, and teams learn their overall ranking when they're finished competing. Players can continue chatting after the game ends and will be prompted to add each other as friends.

by David Cohen
See full article at AdWeek

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Blockchain Dating Platform Viola.AI Set For ICO

Posted on March 12, 2018

Viola tokenBLOCKCHAIN NEWS – Mar 12 – The Singapore-based decentralized dating platform, Viola.AI will commence a public sale of its /VIOLA tokens on 14 March, having concluded a presale which allocated all 7.5M tokens five days early. The platform has also teamed up with retail network MegaX to build an artificial intelligence-driven shopping service aimed at millennials. Holders of /VIOLA tokens will now be able to make transactions in the MegaX retail network.

by David Bentley
See full article at Blockchain News

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“The Unicorn” Film Is Partnering With A Threesome Dating App At SXSW

Posted on March 12, 2018

3somer the unicorn movieADWEEK – Mar 11 – To promote Robert Schwartzman's The Unicorn, which premiered at South by Southwest, the film's producers have partnered with a dating app, 3Somer. "3Somer is more than just a Tinder alternative for threesomes," said John Martinuk, co-founder of 3Somer, in a statement. "We aim to create an exclusive and friendly community for people into the threesome lifestyle." The Unicorn follows Malory (played by Lauren Lapkus) and Caleb (played by Nick Rutherford), a couple four years into their marriage, who embark on a quest to give threesome dating a try.

by Kristina Monllos
See full article at Adweek

Summarized by the IDEA team