OPW INTERVIEW – Oct 16 – Dua is a dating and networking app for Albanians and diaspora. But that's not the entirety of their business play. They're proving out their app in Albania but then they've been on the prowl for partners to expand to other countries with considerable portions of their natives who form as diaspora around the world. They're uniting diaspora in their apps. Brilliant. We've seen World Singles do something similar in the past with Eligible Greeks and Iranian Personals. Now Dua is following a similar path. Starting with Albanians, and now Romanians. They just announce that they have a partner helping them to expand into Romania (see news). I interviewed CEO/Founder Valon Asani. – Mark Brooks
How is Dua different from the likes of other matchmaking and online dating apps? What is your focus?
260 million people are living outside the country they were born in. We are on a mission to revolutionize the way how globally fragmented communities connect with each other. We understand the importance of the community and how to connect people living in diasporas with their home countries. Diaspora Intelligence is the new way of operating diaspora engagement and interconnecting people of global communities.
Our focus is not only in niche markets, but we have a hyper-focus on niche markets with a huge diaspora. Our Diaspora Intelligence Platform is made to connect people from the same community within the diaspora and with their home country. Specific features like 'Change virtual location', 'Hot Places' & 'Cross-Path' make that possible.
Why is Romania your next partner-vertical?
Romania is a super interesting market, over 26 million people and 6.6 million Romanians living in the diaspora. In Europe, Romania is the third largest remittance recipient. The diaspora is well connected and sends over 4 billion Euro yearly back to the home country. 10% yearly growth in social media users. The country is investing billions in digitalization. A perfect match for our matchmaking technology with our local partners in Romania. We started with the Albanian market (dua.com) and the Romanians have a similar culture and therefore the differences are minimal, which makes it easier for us to enter this market.
What are you looking for in an ideal partner?
We're looking for marketing partners who understand the local culture and help to connect their diasporas. People with an entrepreneur spirit, well connected, understanding the value of technology and matchmaking. These are the basics. From that point, we can start talking about how to implement our Diaspora Intelligence Platform with our partner into the next market.
What will Dua look like in 2 years time?
We will have crossed 10 million users in 4 different countries with big diasporas. Our Diaspora Intelligence Technology is changing the way how global communities are connected.
One day, all people who got separated from their communities will have the opportunity to connect again with their community members. Anywhere. Anytime. Anyone. People of socially connected communities are more likely to thrive, to love, to make an impact. Social impact. Business impact. Positive impact. Sources: dua.solutions & dua.com/en/
