WALL STREET JOURNAL – Jan 21 – A higher percentage of the Bumble app's users convert to payers than the market average among dating apps, according to OC&C Strategy Consultants – ~9% paid conversion among its 12.3M monthly active users, the company said. But a women-centric approach also could pose some limitations to growth. Historical gender norms might be more difficult to disrupt outside the U.S. In India, Bumble didn't break the top 10 in terms of consumer spending. Interestingly, Tinder tested a feature in India around the time of Bumble's launch there called "My Move," which allowed women to initiate conversation. Depending on its success, Tinder said it would consider launching the app more globally. Ominously for Bumble, Tinder hasn't indicated plans to roll out the feature anywhere else.
Month: January 2021
Dating Apps and Videoconferencing Could Be Monitored in New EU Data Rules
EURACTIV – Jan 21 – Dating apps and videoconferencing tools could come under the scope of new EU efforts to monitor online communications in a bid to stamp out child sexual abuse material. In a series of private exchanges between MEPs and Commission services, the EU executive has attempted to clarify a number of concerns related to proposed rules that would allow online communications services to be vetted for child abuse content. In one exchange, the Commission is pressed on whether it considers 'dating apps,' such as Tinder, Bumble and OkCupid, part of the new rules. The response was that while assessments should be made on a case-by-case basis, "the communications features of dating apps may constitute NI-ICS, unless they are merely ancillary features."
White Label Dating to Introduce Voice and Video Calling
WLD – Jan 21 – The feature will be introduced this month, and WLD's partners can expect increased conversion rates and greater retention, both resulting in more revenue.
Lolly: Short Form Video and Dating Combined
TALKING INFLUENCE – Jan 21 – If TikTok and Tinder had a child, it would be Lolly. The new US-based dating app allows users to upload short videos to their profiles which they can scroll through in a vertical feed, evocative of TikTok. Founders Sacha Schermerhorn and Marc Baghadjian, who are both in their early twenties, launched the app at the end of 2020.
South Korean Hyperconnect Launches “Slide”, a Video-based Dating App
BUSINESS KOREA – Jan 20 – Hyperconnect, a Korean IT company that develops software and mobile applications, has officially launched 'Slide,' a video-first dating and social discovery app. Through video-based profiles, AI-driven matching tools and a real time video "Vibe Check" feature, Slide enables users to match with others.
by Kim Eun-jin
See full article at Business Korea
Interpol Warns of Scamers Using Dating Apps to Promote Fake Investments
ZDNET – Jan 20 – Interpol has warned of a new investment scam targeting users of mobile dating apps. Users sign up to a dating app and unknowingly end up matching with a scammer. Once a level of trust has been established, the scam artist will then turn the conversation over to finance and potential investments, encouraging their 'match' to join them in a financial venture. Once the match has been milked for their cash, victims are locked out of their 'investment' accounts and the scam artist vanishes, cutting off all contact.
BlueCity CEO Recognized on INvolve’s ‘OUTstanding 100 LGBT+ Executives List’
GLOBE NEWSWIRE – Jan 19 – Baoli Ma, founder, chairman and CEO of BlueCity, a world-leading LGBTQ community platform, has become the first person from the Chinese mainland recognized on the 'OUTstanding 100 LGBT+ Executives List' from INvolve, a global network and consultancy championing diversity and inclusion in business. First launched in 2013 and supported by Yahoo! Finance, INvolve's OUTstanding Role Model Lists "showcase and celebrate the global business leaders who are driving change in the workplace and inspiring the next generation of diverse talent." 43-year-old Ma was formerly a closeted policeman known online only by the alias "Geng Le," who founded one of China's first and most influential LGBTQ online forums, Danlan, the predecessor of BlueCity back in 2000. After coming out in 2011, he resigned from the police force and wholly dedicated himself to raising awareness for the LGBTQ community, founding BlueCity in the same year along with the launch of mobile app Blued in 2012. Blued now connects ~58M people worldwide with nearly half of them outside China.
Compatibility Before Photos? A New Dating App Takes a Personality-First Approach to Online Dating
FORBES – Jan 20 – The team at Birdy, a new dating and relationship app, has built their entire business around the premise that compatibility is more important than appearance. When users download Birdy, they take a personality survey, inspired by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), to determine which of the 16 different personality types they are. Based on the compatibility matching algorithm, the app will suggest users with the most compatible personality types. Next, they have to create a Story that shows who they are without showing their face.
First Look At Bumble’s IPO
SEEKING ALPHA – Jan 20 – Bumble is reportedly seeking a $6-8B valuation. In 2019, Blackstone purchased a majority stake in the company that valued the company at $3B, representing quite a sizable return in a short amount of time. Across its two apps, Bumble and Badoo, the company has 42M monthly active users. Badoo is the fourth-largest (by gross revenue) dating app in the world.
In terms of sizing: Badoo actually has more MAUs than Bumble, with 28.4M as of the end of Sep 2020. This is more than double Bumble's 12.3M MAUs. However, Bumble users are more likely to be premium users; hence, the Bumble brand actually generates ~60% of the combined company's revenue versus ~40% for Badoo. This is why Bumble, despite the smaller user base, is the #2 grossing dating app in the world, behind Tinder. The global online dating market stood at $5.3B in 2020 and is expected to grow 13% YOY to $9.9B by the end of 2025. Despite the rapid and broad adoption of online dating in recent years, only 15% of users are paid subscribers. Given the normalization of paying for multiple services, especially driven by COVID-19, we expect this number to continue trending upward. Bumble's total paid users grew 19% YOY to 2.44M, with the Bumble app indexing at a faster 30% YOY growth rate versus 11% YOY growth for Badoo.
by Gary Alexander
See full article at Seeking Alpha
Taimi Launches Versus Battles
EINPRESSWIRE – Jan 20 – The largest LGBTQ+ platform that features a dating app and social network introduces a new livestreaming tool – Versus Battles – meant to inspire friendly debates and discussions. The feature allows users to start friendly competitions with random people while livestreaming. Another streaming feature introduced to Taimi 2 months ago is Live Duet, which allows users to tune in and co-host other people's livestreams. Taimi launched livestreaming in late August 2020. During September-December 2020, ~550k unique streaming sessions were launched.
See full article at EINPresswire
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