HORNET – Mar 25 – Starting March 24 on Hornet for iOS, users are now able to add adaptive, machine learning-composed soundtracks to their video stories. It will be coming to Android soon.
Month: March 2021
Bumble Launches Guide for Online Safety
BlueCity’s Q4 and Full Year 2020 Financial Results
GLOBE NEWSWIRE – Mar 24 – Total Q4 revenues reached RMB278.8M ($42.7M), up 24.2% YOY. Net loss was RMB73.1M ($11.2M), compared with net loss of RMB7.2M in the Q4 of 2019. Monthly active users reached 7.6M, up 20.3% YOY. Total paying users on the Blued mobile app reached 518K, up of 38% YOY. Total 2020 revenues reached RMB1.03B ($158M), up 35.9% YOY. 2020 net loss was RMB221.9M ($34M), compared with net loss of RMB52.9M in 2019.
Dating Apps Thriving Amid Pandemic
APN NEWS – Mar 23 – According to data by Finaria.it, the combined revenues of the top five dating apps globally hit $100M in January. As the most-profitable dating app, Tinder generated $64.6M in revenue that month. Tinder in-app purchase revenues skyrocketed by 250% in three years, jumping from $403M in 2017 to $1.4B in 2020. Bumble ranked as the second-most-profitable dating app, with $18.6M in revenue and 1.8M downloads in January. Bumble users spent $210M on in-app purchases in 2020, six times less than Tinder users. Hinge, Badoo, and Match followed with $8.4M, $5.1M, and $4.3M in revenue in January.
How Tinder and K-dramas Changed Dating Preferences in Singapore
CNA LUXURY – Mar 23 – After 17 years, Lunch Actually is still playing Cupid. Founded in 2004, Lunch Actually is the brainchild of 41-year-old Violet Lim. In her early 20s, Lim was working as a management associate in a bank when she realised that most of her peers, though successful, were single. At the age of 24, Lim took the plunge and left her job to start Lunch Actually together with her now husband, Jamie Lee. To date, it has arranged ~140K dates and matched ~ 4,500 happily married couples. The company has also established offices in Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Thailand. Thanks to dating apps, people have become more open to engaging an external party to help them find love, Lim shared. "The trouble with dating apps is that there are all sorts of characters." Lunch Actually started off as a service to match singles for a lunch date but is now offering coaching services. It launched its own dating app, LunchClick, in 2015 which is meant only for serious daters. Last year, the company also launched the Lunch Actually App, which helps its clients to set up appointments with consultants, view their matches, arrange dates, submit their feedback, and chat with dating coaches. Most recently, the company tapped into livestreaming. Lim has witnessed firsthand the changing preferences of Singaporeans. Interestingly, the Korean drama fever has had some effect. More people now are more concerned about physical appearance. "It could also be a result of Korean dramas, or just TV dramas in general," shared Lim. "Or it could be because of dating apps. On dating apps, the first thing you see is a person's photo."
Government-led Matchmaking Services Are Targeting Singles in Japan
CHINA DAILY – Mar 23 – As one of Japan's latest efforts to boost its tumbling birth rate, the rapidly graying nation has turned to AI for matchmaking, and Koitama is the local version of the central government's latest campaign. In Japanese, the word "koi" translates as "love". Because it is a government-led program, there are all kinds of requirements aimed at making people feel safe, such as having to provide proof that users are single. According to Japan's Cabinet Office, the central government plans to allocate 2B yen ($19M) this year to support local authorities that run programs to help residents find love. According to Statista, the market size of online matchmaking services for dating and marriage-seeking in Japan last year reached 62B yen, up from 26B yen in 2017. The market is forecast to grow by 70% from last year to 2025. However, this trend has failed to reverse the country's declining birth and marriage rates. Japan's population is declining at one of the fastest rates globally. In 2019, the number of births fell to 865K the lowest annual figure ever. ~35% of Japan's population is expected to be 65 or older by 2050. The number of marriages each year in Japan has fallen from 800K in 2000 to 600K in 2019.
Tinder Will Let Users Gift Lyft Rides to Their Dates Through a New Partnership
BUSINESS INSIDER – Mar 23 – Tinder is teaming up with Lyft so users can book rides for dates without leaving the Tinder app. Tinder said the feature will roll out in the coming months.
Fed. Circ. OKs Fees in Reverse Online Dating Patent Spat
LAW360 – Mar 23 – A man who accused Lori Cheek, a dating service founder, of stealing his idea for online dating "in reverse" and "outing" his sexuality must now pay attorney fees and more for the outlandish accusations that went on for too long, the Federal Circuit ruled on Monday. Alfred Pirri Jr. and his counsel are liable for attorney fees and double costs in Pirri's lawsuit against Lori Cheek and her company Cheek'd Inc.
The Meet Group’s CEO Geoff Cook to Speak at Safety Tech 2021 on March 24th
BUSINESSWIRE – Mar 23 – Geoff Cook will participate in the "Brand Protection Through User Safety" panel, which will delve into how technology is helping leading brands worldwide protect their online communities and brands from harm. The panel will be moderated by Tiffany Xingyu Wang, GM and Co-founder of the Oasis Consortium and other panelists include leaders from LEGO Group, Dentsu, and IAB.
Dating App Swoovy Connects Users Through Volunteering
FOX7 – Mar 23 – Founding CEO Brooke Waupsh talks about the app which helps give people a chance to connect while also doing something more meaningful.