BUSINESSWIRE – Mar 17 – The Meet Group, a leading provider of interactive dating solutions, has appointed Norman Petty as General Counsel. In this role, Petty will lead the company's legal team while overseeing its Trust and Safety organization charged with maintaining the safety and security of its users. Petty joins The Meet Group from Dow Jones & Company, where he most recently served as Senior VP and Associate General Counsel.
Month: March 2021
OkCupid Is Available in Turkish
LINKEDIN – Mar 17 – To celebrate OkCupid's Turkish launch, the OkCupid team in Turkey, led by Ezgi Ceren (OkCupid's Turkey Marketing Manager & Global Brand Manager at Hawaya), had a virtual lunch event with the OkCupid team in the US. OkCupid, which is owned by Match Group, launched in Turkey last year but the app was only available in English.
Hinge Sees Increase in Video Dates During Pandemic
KXLY – Mar 17 – Hinge saw a 30% increase in messages among users this past March and almost half of users have been on a video date. 52% of users say they are likely to continue incorporating video chats into their dating process even when they can meet up safely in real life. Despite the pandemic, Hinge facilitated 12% more dates in 2020 than in 2019.
RSVP Bought by Oasis Founders, Current Managers
OPW INTERVIEW – Mar 16 – Daniel Haigh (Dir. Product RSVP/Oasis since 2014) and Dave Heysen (CEO of RSVP/Oasis since 2014) created Oasis, which was bought by RSVP in 2014, the original Internet dating service at scale, in Australia. RSVP was bought by Fairfax Media in 2005, which itself was bought by Nine. Now Daniel and Dave are acquiring RSVP and will run it, along with Helium Dating, and launch a new app. I asked Daniel and Dave about their plans. – Mark Brooks
Why did you buy RSVP back?
Fairfax Media was acquired by Nine Entertainment in 2018, and as a result Nine became the major shareholder of RSVP. Since this transaction we recognised that RSVP would be better placed as an independent business and we (Dave & Daniel) are excited to have had the opportunity to complete a company buyback in January 2021. However, our relationship with Nine is still strong and we have an ongoing multimillion dollar media spend agreement in place over the next 3 years. The majority of this advertising will be for ongoing marketing of RSVP in Australia.
What will you do with RSVP next?
Although RSVP has certainly been affected by overseas competition, we are very confident about the future, and have a strong position in the Australia market. Our current focus is improving the services provided by RSVP. We genuinely want to help our customers find a lifelong partner, and will always refine our online dating platform while providing a high level of customer care. We are also completing the development of a brand new native app which we are super excited about.
How about Oasis?
Sadly we decided to close down our Oasis.com / Amorenlinea.com brands in December 2020. We had some serious backlash (to put it mildly) from our members upon announcing this decision as Oasis had a very strong following throughout Australia, UK and South/Central America. The service was no longer viable. Oasis was a free site and advertising revenue has been steadily declining year after year, while the technology platform was becoming more expensive to maintain.
You launched a new app recently. Can you tell us more about it?
We soft launched a new online dating app called Helium at the end of 2020. Although we are still rapidly developing the app we are excited about initial numbers with almost 200,000 users having signed up to the service. Features include direct contact (none of this swiping or liking stuff), fully featured (and encrypted) messaging platform, mini-video calling, 'Really Me' verification and so much more! Helium is available worldwide in all English and Spanish Latin American markets. See https://www.heliumdating.com.
See the top news on RSVP
See the top news on Helium
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments
Lolly, “TikTok Meets Tinder” Dating App, Raises Seed Funding
GLOBE NEWSWIRE – Mar 15 – Lolly is the brainchild of Babson College senior Marc Baghadjian and NYU graduate, Sacha Schermerhorn. Lolly was born out of their frustration with dating apps. Lolly allows users to showcase their personality through videos and find people based on common interests. Lolly has attracted the attention of John Sculley (former CEO of Apple), Ron Conway's SV Angel, John Pleasants (former President of IAC), Blair Shane (former CMO of Sequoia Capital), Jane Metcalfe (co-founder of WIRED), Scott Eagle (former CMO of E-Harmony), Mitch Lowe (Founding Executive at Netflix), among others. In keeping with its focus on the Gen Z experience, Lolly is also currently working with investor California Crescent Fund, a student-run venture fund located in Southern California, to assist in community building and growth.
See full article at Globe Newswire
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments
Bumble’s Quiet Period Will End on March 23rd
MARKETBEAT – Mar 16 – Bumble had issued 50M shares in its IPO on February 11th. The total size of the offering was $2.2B based on an initial share price of $43.00. During the company's quiet period, underwriters and any insiders involved in the IPO are restricted from issuing any research reports or earnings estimates for the company. Following the end of the company's quiet period, the brokerages that served as underwriters will likely initiate research coverage on the company. BMBL opened at $73.47 on Tuesday. It has a 1-year low of $57.53 and a 1-year high of $84.80.
Google Play Store Suspends Polyamory Dating App
VICE – Mar 16 – #open, an app for ethical non-monogamy, was suspended for violating the "Sexual Content and Profanity policy." Co-founders Amanda Wilson and David Epstein said that the company's product manager, Maile Maniliguis, submitted an update to the wording of their Google Play listing on March 4. They heard nothing from Google until two days later, when Google notified them that the app had been suspended and removed, citing violation of Google Play's "Sexual Content and Profanity policy." The notice specifically said that the app's title and full description were the parts in violation. The #open developers appealed the suspension, and are still waiting to hear back – but they say that this lost time is damaging.
Prickett Jones, Kessler Topaz Tapped to Lead Match.com Suit
LAW360 – Mar 16 – Prickett Jones and Kessler Topaz edged out a team led by Andrews & Springer, Friedman Oster and Cohen Milstein on Monday to helm a stockholder challenge to the $30B spinoff of Match Group, Match.com's parent, from IAC on July 1, 2020. The lawsuit is accusing chairman Barry Diller and past and current Match directors of separating the two companies under terms unfair to investors and Match.
See the top news on Match Group
See the top news on Match.com
Tinder Is Giving out 1K Free COVID-19 Tests to Encourage People to Go on Dates Again
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