PR NEWSWIRE – Feb 4 – BLK, the largest dating app made for Black singles, launched a new advertising campaign, Once You Go BLK, to reclaim and reappropriate the antiquated phrase "Once you go Black, you don't go back." This campaign includes original content and video testimonials with BLK users, tailored to acknowledge how real people date, across the Black cultural spectrum.
Month: February 2021
Clover Closes $12M Growth Capital Financing
PR NEWSWIRE – Feb 3 – Dating app Clover has closed a growth capital financing of $12M consisting of growth debt from Espresso Capital, and a structured equity investment from an existing investor. In fiscal 2020, Clover generated $19M in revenue from 900K paid subscriptions. Clover plans to use the new funds to accelerate its rapid growth. The app offers a wide range of settings, filters, messaging, and video options. LIVE, the new video streaming service, allows users to watch live streams, start their own stream, chat, and send and receive gifts.
See full article at PR Newswire
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.com
Match Group 4Q and Annual Results, Tinder Reports $1.4B Annual Revenue
MATCH GROUP – Feb 2 – Total Q4 revenue grew 19% YOY to $651M. Operating income was $213M, up 17% YOY. Adjusted EBITDA was $245M, up 13% YOY and the average subscribers increased 12% to 10.9M, up from 9.8M in the prior year quarter. Full year 2020 revenue grew 17% YOY to $2.4B. Operating income and Adjusted EBITDA were $746M and $897M, respectively, increasing 16% and 15% YOY, respectively. Tinder Direct Revenue was $1.4B for 2020, an 18% increase YOY.
OkCupid Gives an Inclusive Update to Valentine’s Day Cards
ADWEEK – Feb 2 – Dating app aims to celebrate all types of relationships and boost LGBTQ+ artists. OkCupid members can now download cards to send to friends and significant others, or share on social media.
Happn to Launch a Profile Verification Badge
SINGLESSITE.NL – Feb 2 – Happn is launching a new feature that aims to make online exchanges safer through the profiles certification. According to Happn's recent survey, 91% of respondents said they would use this feature. Users can certify their profiles for free and get a "Certified profile" badge.
How Match Group Grew to Dominate the Online Dating Market
BUSINESS INSIDER – Feb 2 – Match Group, which started as one lonely Stanford Business School graduate's attempt to build a less embarrassing way to find love online in the '90s, has turned into a titan that owns nearly every US dating site. Bumble, however, is conspicuously absent from Match's portfolio. Bumble's CEO, ex-Tinder executive Whitney Wolfe Herd, has a toxic history with the online dating group.
History of Match
- Match Group was founded in Feb 2009 after IAC decided to bundle all dating sites it owned.
- AC's initial purchase of Match.com dates back to the 1990s. Gary Kremen founded Match.com in 1995; he left in 1996 with just ~$50K.
- Ticketmaster bought Match.com in 1999 for $50M. Cendant Corporation bought the company a year earlier for $6M.
- During the 2000s, IAC chairman Barry Diller turned Match.com into one of the most successful online dating companies in the US.
- Jim Safka, a former ETrade and AT&T executive, took over as Match.com CEO in 2004.
- Revenue increased 68% between 2003 and 2006, going from $185M to $311M
- IAC acquired People Media for $80M in July 2009, with a combined 255K subscribers.
- 2011, Match Group acquired OkCupid for $50M.
- In January 2012, Hatch Labs, a startup "sandbox" launched by IAC to incubate mobile apps, hired Sean Rad as general manager. Rad worked with developer Joe Muñoz to create the prototype for Tinder. Jonathan Badeen and Chris Gulczynski were hired to help with front-end and design. Whitney Wolfe Herd was hired in May and Justin Mateen was brought in as a contractor. The app was originally called Match Box.
- August 2012, Match Box was renamed to "Tinder" and launched on Apple's App Store.
- By April 2013, Tinder officially incorporated, with Rad, Badeen, and Mateen considered the company's cofounders. Rad served as CEO.
- IAC later purchased another chunk of Tinder for ~$50M.
- In 2014, Wolfe Herd sued Tinder and IAC for sexual harassment and discrimination.
- In 2015, acquired POF for $575M, Match Group went public.
- By 2017, Tinder had merged under the Match Group umbrella.
- In 2018, Rad and nine other Tinder employees sued IAC, claiming IAC purposely undervalued the startup. The lawsuit sought $2B in damages.
- 2018, acquisition of Hinge.
- December 2019, IAC announced it was spinning off its stake in Match Group.
- Jan 2020, Match Group CEO of 14 years, Mandy Ginsberg, stepped down. Former Tinder COO Shar Dubey took over.
by Avery Hartmans & Allana Akhtar
See full article at Business Insider
Bumble Sets IPO Price at $28-$30 a Share, Valuation at $6B
SEEKING ALPHA – Feb 2 – Bumble will offer 40M shares of stock at $28 to $30 apiece as part of its upcoming IPO, potentially valuing the company at ~$6B. Bumble expects to raise $332.4M if the offering prices at a midpoint of $29 a share. It intends to use the proceeds to pay off some $200M of debt and $21.3M of underwriting expenses, leaving $111.1M for general corporate purposes. Bumble said in the filing that it lost ~$84M during 2020's first nine months on $377M of revenue.
Zoosk Faces Negligence Suit in California Over User Data Hack
BLOOMBERG LAW – Feb 1 – Zoosk must defend against negligence claims brought by California residents whose personal identifying information was allegedly compromised by hackers last year, a federal judge ruled. Zoosk had a duty to protect sensitive personal info, the judge says.
Spark Networks About to Shift From Loss to Profit
SIMPLY WALL ST – Feb 1 – Spark Networks is possibly approaching a major achievement in its business. Consensus from 2 of the American Interactive Media and Services analysts is that Spark Networks is on the verge of break even. They anticipate the company to incur a final loss in 2020, before generating positive profits of €8.2M in 2021. Therefore, the company is expected to break even roughly a year from now.
Christof Wittig – Communities Are the Future of Online Dating
LTR CONFERENCE – Feb 2 – High churn, customer acquisition costs, and short user lifecycle are several challenges faced by dating services. According to Christof Wittig, CEO of Hornet, building communities in online dating is an excellent way to improve user experience. He believes that community is the future of dating. Creating places where users can interact around common interests can facilitate long-term user engagement and increasing retention. Christof Wittig explains the benefits of building communities in the latest video in the LTR Conference series.
LTR stands for Love, Technology, Relationships and the online conference covers the Internet dating and Online Social Communities space. It is for members of IDEA and OSCA.
The November LTR was kindly sponsored by RealMe, vPaaS by The Meet Group & Utopia Analytics.