CRUISE INDUSTRY NEWS – Nov 15 – CruiSea, a new dating app allows singles to make love connections while at sea. CruiSea users create a profile, mark their gender, interest and intentions, upload a photo, and browse potential partners. The app is searchable by cruise line, ship, port and date ranges. Users can also search for matches as a cruise guest or crew member. As of early November, CruiSea had 1,200 active users.
Month: November 2019
S’More Launches in Beta, Backed by a $1M Seed Round
MOBILEMARKETING MAGAZINE – Nov 14 – Dating app S'More (a.k.a. Something More), has launched its private beta this week in the Boston area, with a waitlist of ~8K singles and a $1M seed round, led by Benson Oak Ventures, and also including a number of private investors. S'More wants user to get to know each other without seeing them first. The more a user engages and chats with a person, the more their profile photos unblur and the more their private content unlocks. S'More founder, Adam Cohen Aslatei, worked at various dating apps and ad tech firms, including gay dating app Chappy, The Meet Group and Spark Networks.
by David Murphy
See full article at MobileMarketing Magazine
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.com
YouShouldDate.ppt
SEATTLE TIMES – Nov 13 – At the events hosted by YouShouldDate.ppt, presenters are pitching their friends, Shark Tank-style, to hundreds of potential romantic partners. Following each PowerPoint presentation, the audience has two minutes to ask the eligible friend questions – or, in some cases, to ask them on a date on the spot. YouShouldDate.ppt is part of a wave of dating events that have sprung up around Seattle.
Top Grossing Dating Apps Worldwide for October 2019
SENSORTOWER – Nov 13 – The top grossing dating app worldwide for Oct 2019 was Tinder with ~$88.7M in user spending, which represented 18% growth from Oct 2018. ~43% of Tinder's revenue was from the U.S., followed by 7% from UK and 5% from Australia. Bumble was #2 with ~$20M in gross revenue, which represented 44% growth YOY. 77% of Bumble's revenue was from the U.S., followed by 9% from UK. The next top grossing app was Tantan, followed by Pairs and Badoo.
There Are No Private Messages on Dating App “SEEN”
GRAZIA DAILY – Nov 13 – SEEN Dating is the brainchild of Mike Montgomery, who set out to create a dating app with increased transparency. The aim? To reduce catfishing, ghosting and trolling within dating apps. Each time a user interact with other users on SEEN all the text messages and the video chat, enabled through the app, are recorded and posted under her/his profile in real-time. People can follow the interactions of daters on the app without even setting up a profile. 'We know that transparency in dating might seem terrifying at first,' said Montgomery. 'But we believe it represents a more positive and effective future of online dating. Online daters are fed up with fake profiles and time wasters, and transparency puts an end to that.'
FourplayTM – New Double Dating App
PR NEWSWIRE – Nov 13 – Fourplay Social has launched a new double dating app for singles, fourplayTM. The free app enables users to form "dating teams" with single friends, to browse, match, and go out with other duos. In order to match, all four members have to indicate they are interested in connecting. Once everyone approves, a group chat is opened where the teams can get to know each other and make plans to meet up. There is no one-on-one matching on fourplayTM. It's double or nothing.
OkCupid CEO, Ariel Charytan, on Love, Tech, and Success
THRIVE GLOBAL – Nov 13 – OkCupid CEO, Ariel Charytan, discusses OkCupid's new market expansion.
Q: Tell us about your career trajectory?
A: Over the past two decades, I've learned that the fundamental thing we collect in life isn't money or titles, but experiences. What attracts me to new roles is the opportunity to experience something new. I have sought and been fortunate to have always worked on products that improve people's lives.
Q: What got you interested in the industry?
A: Human relationships. They are one of the most fascinating topics to study.
Q: What projects can we expect to see next?
A: OkCupid has always been a platform that allows people to be their true selves. In places like India, we are continuing to match people on what matters most to them and specific to their culture. I'm proud to be able to give people that opportunity because it's something everyone deserves.
Q: I have been predicting a greater use of AI in dating apps for years. What in your opinion is the future of dating?
A: The future of dating is going to look a lot like the origin of OkCupid. We match people on shared beliefs and values through thousands of personalized questions. AI has helped us with showing daters the people they would actually want to meet beyond simple attraction.
S’More: a New Dating App That Looks to Suspend Physical Attraction for Something More
TECH CRUNCH – Nov 11 – According to former Chappy Managing Director Adam Cohen Aslatei, "something more" is one of the most common pieces of feedback that dating apps get from their users. That's where S'More comes in. S'More was founded by Aslatei to provide a dating app to users that goes beyond superficial looks. Rather than scrolling through a feed and swiping left and right, users are served five profiles each day. User profiles on S'More consist of icons, rather than pictures and text, which reveal characteristics about the profile's owner. The company plans to generate revenue through a freemium model. S'More is now launching in beta in Boston and the D.C. area with plans to launch in New York soon.
Tinder Seeks to Tackle Trans Harassment
Yacktman Asset Management Takes $1.22M Position in Spark Networks
DARBY NEWS – Nov 11 – Yacktman Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Spark Networks in the Q3, according to its SEC filing. The institutional investor acquired 220K shares, valued at $1,2M. Yacktman Asset Management owned ~0.07% of Spark Networks at the end of the most recent quarter. Gabelli Funds also purchased shares of Spark Networks, valued at ~$55K. Renaissance Technologies purchased $454K worth of Spark shares. Finally, Canaan Partners purchased $22.6M worth of Spark shares.
See full article at Darby News
See all posts on Spark Networks
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