PINK NEWS – Dec 18 – As part of the cooperation, Blued will be participating in an extension of the funding round to help expand upon the momentum and growth rates Hornet has been experiencing. Hornet raised $8M earlier this year from venture capital fund Ventech China. Hornet, founded in 2011, claims to be "the world's second largest gay social network" with 15M users, and 3M monthly active users.
by Joseph Patrick McCormick
See full article at Pink News
TECH CRUNCH – Dec 14 – Bumble, the dating app that puts women in the driver's seat, has invested in gay dating app Chappy. The details were not disclosed but Bumble is the sole investor in the round and will take an equity stake. In exchange, Bumble will be offering product development and marketing support. Chappy is a gay dating app based in the UK.
by Fitz Tepper
See full article at Tech Crunch
This post also appear on InternetDatingInvestments.
by Paul T. Horgan
See full article at HeatSt.com
PINK DATING SITES – Nov 24 – Just She is not only a dating application but a lesbian-friendly community. Even though Just She is free to download and use, some features need membership upgrade in order to be unlocked. Standard membership costs $39.99 per 1 month, while premium one cost $79.99 per 3 months. Users can try a VIP package which boosts up all features and tools, also gives them best searching results and much more for a $64.99.
VENTURE BEAT – Nov 22 – Hornet has raised $8M in its first round of institutional financing. The Series A round was led by Shanghai-based VC firm Ventech China, and adds to the $500k angel round Hornet raised back in 2012. Hornet says that the cash will be used to "support rapid business growth and user adoption" around the world. Ventech China participated in the Series C round of China's gay dating app Blued in June this year. Blued is big in Asia, and has claimed to be twice as big as Grindr.
by Paul Sawers
See full article at Venture Beat
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.
THE BODY – Nov 9 – Grindr is adding optional HIV-related fields in user profiles, such as HIV status, last HIV test date, and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use. Users won't be able to filter who they see in the app based on HIV status. Filling out the HIV status field is entirely optional.
by DJ Davis
See full article at The Body
READING EAGLE – Nov 6 – ChristianMingle.com opened to gay users after settling a lawsuit that claimed that it violated California's non-discrimination law. But the new search function likely won't prove very useful to gay men or women – the site now lets them view profiles of the same gender, but does not specifically show them fellow gay users. Parent company Spark Networks said it has no plans to advertise the site to gay Christians, or to go further to make the site work for gay or bisexual users.
by Julie Zauzmer
See full article at Reading Eagle
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ABO
UT-ONLINE – Oct 27 – Contrary to a recent Bloomberg report that dating apps are switching over to pay models, Jack'd, a hook-up gay app, says it will remain free. "Our research continues to show that our targeted demographic does not pay for music, games, movies, or dating," stated Phil Henricks, VP of Strategy and Business Development at Online Buddies, the parent company of Jack'd. Jack'd's monetization is through selling ads to corporations. ~60% of Jack'd's revenue comes from Fortune 500 companies, clothing retailers, and the tourism industry, all of whom have run banners on the app in recent weeks.
