NEW YORK POST – George Arison, CEO of Grindr, has endorsed moderate San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, and donated $7K to his campaign. Arison stirred controversy in 2022 when he became CEO, and past tweets resurfaced in which he described himself as conservative. Those comments have since been deleted. It’s unclear if Arison is still conservative. But he doesn’t like how California is being run, suggesting the state should have a smaller government or more services.
CAL MATTERS – A proposed California bill would require dating apps to run criminal background checks and flag users convicted of violent crimes, domestic violence, assault, hate crimes, or those on the sex offender registry. The measure follows reports of sexual violence linked to dating apps, including a survey where more than a third of women said they were assaulted by someone they met online. Critics say it could harm privacy and require extensive data collection to avoid misidentification. The bill has passed a Senate committee and may be revised before moving forward.
FAST COMPANY – Playtomic started as a simple tool to book courts and find people to play with, but it has evolved into a social platform. It matches strangers into games based on skill level, and those interactions often continue off the court. People end up building friendships and, in some cases, relationships.
INC42 – Schmooze, a Bengaluru-based dating app with ~5M users and a meme-led matching format, has launched ‘Riya’, a voice-based AI matchmaker. The feature engages users in conversations to understand their personality and recommend more compatible matches. It has already reached ~300K users and doubled retention.
PARSHIP – A study by Parship finds that singles over 40 are more satisfied with life than Gen Z, despite having smaller social circles. Younger people report higher levels of loneliness, even though they have larger network. The difference comes down to quality over quantity: older singles focus on fewer, deeper relationships and are more confident in meeting new people.
NL TIMES – Four Fingers Management, a Dutch company, is linked to 1,623 fake dating sites across 32 countries. Users chat with employees posing as fake profiles and are led to believe real meetings are possible, while paying per message. In 2018, the Authority for Consumers & Markets (ACM) raided several fake dating companies and imposed fines. The regulator now calls the findings “very concerning,” but has not said whether it will investigate Four Fingers Management.
AD HOC NEWS – Bumble Boost enhances swiping with premium perks like extended likes and rematches. This premium upgrade unlocks features like unlimited swipes, spotlights to boost visibility, and the ability to extend matches before they expire. For a weekly, monthly, or lifetime fee, members get perks like Beeline access to see who liked them first. SuperSwipes to show extra interest, and Incognito mode for private browsing.
BIOMETRIC UPDATE – India is considering mandatory KYC for social media, dating, and gaming platforms, which would require users to verify their identity and reduce anonymity. India is also considering age-based restrictions for social media users under 18. The plan would use age verification tools and apply different rules to groups aged 8–12, 12–16, and 16–18, with a law expected later this year. The proposals aim to improve safety around cybercrime, abuse, and deepfakes, but raise concerns about privacy, enforcement, and overregulation.
TNW – Eight is a Portuguese dating app currently raising €3M, with about €256K secured so far. It is currently available in Portugal and the UK. CEO Afonso Simão previously founded Miofar, a fitness brand he grew to ~$1.2M in revenue. Every night between 8 and 9pm, human-verified users log in, browse 30s video introductions from other members, and unlock 8-minute live video calls with anyone they match with. Chat is only enabled after both sides say yes to a call. Human verification is a core feature.
