CAIXIN GLOBAL – May 12 – Tencent-backed social media app operator Soulgate is seeking to raise an initial target of $100M in an IPO in the U.S., betting investors will buy into the growth story of its networking features even as it continues to lose money. Soulgate, whose dating and chatting app Soul targets adults under 30, says it would spend the proceeds mainly on developing its AI, big data capability and technology infrastructure, as well as brand marketing and promotional activities to grow its user base. Soul launched in November 2016, matching users to like-minded individuals online via AI after they take a personality test and list their interests. 74% of its average daily active users (DAUs) are under 30. Soulgate is yet to turn a profit with losses expanding last year to 600.9M yuan ($92.1M), from 348.7M yuan in 2019. In the first quarter of this year, the company's net loss ballooned sixfold YOY to 409.6M yuan. However, the company has posted steady revenue growth, recording 498M yuan ($77M) in total revenues last year, up from 70.7M yuan ($12M) in 2019.
by Timmy Shen & Qian Tong
See full article at Caixin Global
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TECH CRUNCH – May 26 – Schmooze combines machine learning and memes to connect people based on humor algorithm. A beta test in late summer with 200 Stanford students has since led to 10K downloads around the country. Currently ~200 memes are added each day, while others are deleted. 90K matches have been made to date. It recently closed on $270K in seed funding from Ulu Ventures and others to tinker with its product.
