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by Jose Antonio Lanz
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Month: February 2019
Dating Apps Look to Live Video as a Way to Boost Interaction
CHEDDAR – Feb 14 – In the push to attract more use, dating platforms are adding features like live video, games, and credits that can boost users' profile. Geoff Cook, CEO of The Meet Group, talks about their live streaming feature. "Live streaming fits very well into dating," he says. "I find live video so powerful because you can actually get a sense of who a person is before your date." He also added: "More than half of our users met in real life." Full video.
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Dating App Coffee Meets Bagel Sends Alert About Data Breach
FORTUNE – Feb 14 – Coffee Meets Bagel sent an email to users yesterday warning that some of their personal information may have been stolen. The company said it learned on Monday about an unauthorized access to a partial list of user data, but did not specify how many people were affected by the breach. The exposed information included names and email addresses used on the app before May 2018. The company reminded users: "we never store any financial information or passwords."
by Erin Corbett
See full article at Fortune
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Bumble’s VP of International Marketing on Valentine’s Day
STANDARD.CO.UK – Feb 14 – It's Valentine's Day and Bumble's VP of international marketing, Louise Troen, is discussing her plans. "We're holding the first global party we've ever done, called The Domino Effect," Troen said. The Domino Effect means two things to Bumble – the second-biggest dating app in the world in terms of global consumer spend, and it literally explains how the global party will work. Set to begin in Auckland, New Zealand at 8pm on February 14, it will then hit all Bumble's major markets, Australia, India, Europe and then finishing in the US. Campaigns like Bumble's Domino Effect for Valentine' Day are Troen's bread and butter. She joined the company two and a half years ago as director of international marketing, and was promoted to VP last year, essentially as founder Whitney Wolfe-Herd's second in command. Bumble Bizz is one of Troen's other big tasks for the year: getting people to see Bumble less as a dating app and more as its own social network. Another instance of how Bumble is moving away from dating to become all things to women, is through its new podcast. Set to launch in March, and named Bumble presents: Unsubscribe, Troen is co-presenting alongside Jada Sezer, a plus-sized model and activist.
by Amelia Heathman
See full article at Standard.co.uk
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Delta – India’s Homegrown LGBTQIA-Friendly Dating App
YOUR STORY – Feb 14 – On September 6, 2018, the Supreme Court of India ruled that Section 377 does not apply to consensual homosexual sex, decriminalising homosexuality. The archaic law from the Indian Penal Code, imposed by the British in 1861, was finally taken down after decades of battle by activists and advocates of the LGBTQIA+ community. Ishaan Sethi, the founder of India's first homegrown dating app for the LGBTQIA+ community, recalls, "It was the highlight of my life." Delta launched in April 2018. Almost 80% of its growth is organic, says the founder. At present, there are ~65K active users on the platform. It is seed-funded by Shunwei Capital, Co-founder of TrulyMadly.com Sachin Bhatia, and HNIs such as such as Keshav Suri and Ritu Dalmia. Currently, Ishaan is in talks for Series A funding round. For 2019, Delta is looking to building its tech team and addressing the needs of the non-urban queer population with localised features such as language options, since almost 50% of users are from small cities and towns. Delta is not just a dating app. It offers three main services – Connect, Network, and Community.
by Amruta Lakhe
See full article at Your Story
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VCs Aren’t Falling in Love With Dating Startups
CRUNCHBASE – Feb 14 – In 2018, venture investors put $127M globally into 27 dating-focused startups. It's certainly tiny compared to the ~$300B in global venture investment across all sectors last year. While the US is home to the majority of funded startups in the dating category, the bulk of investment has gone to China. In 2018, ~80% of dating-related investment went to a single company – Blued, a Grindr-style hookup app for gay men. In 2017, the bulk of capital went to Chinese mobile dating app Tantan, and in 2014, Beijing-based matchmaking site Baihe raised ~$250M. Meanwhile, in the U.S, we are seeing an assortment of startups raising smaller rounds.
by Joanna Glasner
See full article at Crunchbase
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What Will Online Dating Be Like in 2030?
MASHABLE – Feb 14 – Online dating isn't going away any time soon. If anything, it's likely to become further integrated into even more people's lives. "Online daters are exhausted," said Dawoon Kang, co-founder and co-CEO of Coffee Meets Bagel. "Machine-learning and AI may be able to help. People, a lot of times, don't know what they want. Better machine-learning could tailor your matches to your actions, rather than your stated desires", Kang said. Loveflutter, a UK dating app, has AI that matches people based on personality traits it decodes from their tweets. It also plans to use AI to coach users through meeting offline after analyzing their chats. Jean Meyer, the founder and CEO of European dating app Once, doesn't think the dating industry will crack the AI code. "The optimum for a dating service is to show you profiles of people that might be good enough, but not perfection," Meyer said. Pheramor, DNA Romance, and Instant Chemistry all analyze users' DNA to make matches. Video will play a larger role in dating apps, execs said, but how, exactly, is still unclear. Virtual reality in dating apps will also take cultural change.
by Brittany Levine Beckman
See full article at Mashable
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Q&A With Match Group CEO Mandy Ginsberg
THE OBSERVER – Feb 14 – Observer sat down with Mandy Ginsberg to chat about her achievements and challenges over the past year.
Q: How would you describe your first year as the CEO of Match Group?
A: I've been with the company for a long time. But this past year was wonderful, because I had not been in a position where I was in charge across all these brands. We had our best performing financial year ever in our history. On the culture side, there were a couple things that were important to me. As a woman leader in the dating category, I wanted to make sure that I can help women on our platforms with issues around dating and sexual assault. I created the Match Group Advisory Council, and we brought together some of the most incredible leaders who have real expertise in the prevention of sexual assault. I also wanted to make Match Group the best technology company for women to work at. We extended our parental leave policies. We also pay for egg freezing now (80% of the total cost).
Q: What is the latest update on the sexual harassment accusations brought against your former CEO Greg Blatt?
A: I don't really have an update, because there's been no litigation. I have been very aggressive to make sure that our employees know that we do not shy away from these issues and that they are in a safe environment.
Q: Has there been any HR policy change since then?
A: Most of the challenges we faced were around Tinder. We had many employees right out of college. So they needed real clarity in terms of what's appropriate in a workplace. We did sexual harassment training, both in person and via online modules, to make sure that people were aware of what the boundaries are.
Q: Does the fact that Match is in the business of dating make it hard to set company policies around related issues, such as office romance?
A: I would feel hard pressed to tell people in the business of love that you shouldn't fall in love with someone at work, especially when I myself fell in love with my husband at work. Our policy is that you can't date people in direct reporting lines.
Q: Over your 13 years in the dating business, what are some of the interesting trends you've observed on how people use online dating services?
A: 10 years ago people felt very embarrassed to tell others that they met their spouses through a dating site. Today, its kind've a badge of honor. What has driven the big transformation in this category is the popularity of free services and smartphones, which have attracted young people into online dating.
Q: What do you think of Facebook's new dating service?
A: Facebook has launched the dating service in a couple of markets, but we haven't seen any real impact on us yet. But for Facebook, you can't underestimate them. They're a huge player and they have access to a lot of people.
by Sissi Cao
See full article at The Observer
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Video: How Romance Scammers Work
ABC.NET – Feb 14 – Reporter Sean Rubinsztein-Dunlop travelled to Ghana to meet the scammers and watch them at work. At the heart of their business is the 'romance scam', where criminals, often posing as lovelorn US soldiers, convince their victims to send them money. Watch the video here.
by Sean Rubinsztein-Dunlop
See full article at ABC.net
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New Liftoff Report Reveals Dating Apps Surge in Latin America
ADOTAS – Feb 14 – Liftoff released its third annual dating apps research and analysis. Chief among the insights are the rise of Latin America (LATAM), a drop-off in registrations in North America by 485%. Men now outpace women in dating app engagement, but driving subscription remains a hurdle across genders.
by Rebecca Paddon
See full article at Adotas
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