Category: All Gay
Grindr Issues Coronavirus Warning as Hook-ups Thrive During Pandemic
by Nick Duffy
See full article at Pink News
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Grindr Lite Now in India
THE ASIAN AGE – Mar 11 – Grindr has launched its Lite version in several countries, including India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Malaysia. Currently, Grindr says, it has 4.5M daily active users in virtually every country in the world. Using less data and storage space, Grindr Lite provides the fundamental features of the heavier version of the popular app, such as profile and picture browsing and in-app messaging, while loading faster.
Matchmaking Services for Sexual Minorities Rising in Japan
ASAHI.COM – Mar 10 – Matchmaking company Resally started its service in 2016. The company had 160 members in 2016, but the number has now grown to about 500. It has helped 110 gay couples find love. It opened an Osaka branch in February. The membership continues to grow as its service has gained recognition while a growing number of local governments have introduced the same-sex partnership system. According to an online survey conducted by the Japan LGBT Research Institute in 2019 covering ~420K people in their 20s through 60s across the country, 10% of the people identify with being LGBT and sexual minorities.
Beijing Kunlun to Sell Grindr for $608.5M
REUTERS – Chinese gaming company Beijing Kunlun Tech has agreed to sell Grindr for ~$608.5M to San Vicente Acquisition. San Vincente Acquisition comprises a group of entrepreneurs and investors in the technology, media and telecommunications industries. One of the investors in the group is Chinese-born U.S. citizen James Lu, a former executive at Chinese search engine giant Baidu.
by Echo Wang & Chibuike Oguh
See full article at Reuters
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.com
How a Dating App Helped a Generation of Chinese Come Out of the Closet
NEW YORK TIMES – Mar 5 – Blued, one of the biggest gay dating apps in the world, has succeeded because it plays by the ever-shifting rules for L.G.B.T.Q. China – bringing together a minority community without activism. China is home to an LGBTQ population larger than all of France, ~70M people. But according to a United Nations estimate, less than 5% of gay Chinese choose to come out. Blued has a reported in-country user base of some 24M. Homosexuality was formally considered a mental illness in China until 2001. But in recent years, the government has neither expressed explicit support for the LGBTQ community nor sought to crush it. Whereas Russia has adopted a position "that LGBT rights is a Western conspiracy designed to weaken the nation," says Darius Longarino, a fellow at Yale Law School's Paul Tsai China Center. China's one-child policy further increased pressure on some gay Chinese to stay in the closet and enter heterosexual relationships, because parents pinned all their hopes on one child to provide genetic, legally recognized grandchildren to continue the family line. Blued app launched in 2012. The company, once kept alive by 50-to-500-yuan donations, received its first angel investment of $480K in 2013. It then raised a Series A round investment of $1.6M led by the VC firm Crystal Stream and in 2014 raised an additional $30M from another VC firm, DCM. In the last few years, having monopolized the gay-dating app market in China, Blued has expanded to Mexico, Brazil and India.
Lex Is the Lesbian and Queer Dating App That Puts Language First
ALLURE – Feb 24 – Lex, the text-based dating app, launched in November of 2019. The app was inspired by newspaper personals. "Language is really key in queer communities", says Lex's founder Kelly Rakowski. Instagram photos aren't loaded into Lex profiles.
Grindr Introduces Discreet App Icon Feature for All Users
PR NEWSWIRE – Feb 21 – The Discreet App Icon allows users to replace the Grindr app image on their phone with another symbol. The feature was developed in collaboration with Article 19 (the London-based human rights organization), The Guardian Project, and Grindr for Equality to help protect users when there is the possibility that someone may look at their phone and recognize that they are LGBTQ.
Growlr Suspended Many Accounts Without Explanation
QUEERTY – Feb 19 – Social media has erupted with a massive growl of anger following mass account suspensions on gay dating app Growlr. The mass suspensions appear to have begun February 17. Growlr was sold to The Meet Group for ~$11M last year.
Gay Dating App Chappy Is Shutting Down
PINK NEWS – Feb 17 – According to the app's website, Chappy's team will join up dating app Bumble. No matches made on Chappy will be carried over to the Bumble. The app recommends users to exchange numbers with any matches they've made using Chappy before it closes down. All matches will be wiped from February 28. Chappy was founded by Made In Chelsea star Ollie Locke and Jack Rogers in 2017.