Category: All Investment Raises

Yubo, Tinder for Youngsters, Raised $47.5M

Posted on November 18, 2020

Yubo logo 2019TECH CRUNCH – Nov 18 – French startup Yubo, which focuses on young people under 25, has managed to attract 40M users. A fraction of them hang out every day in live-streaming rooms, meet new people and spend money for more features. Yubo expects to double its revenue this year to $20M. The app has recently closed a Series C funding round of $47.5M (previously raised $19.5M) With this funding round, Yubo will expand its team. There are currently 30 employees in Paris, London and Jacksonville. Yubo will open an office in New York.

by Romain Dillet
See full article at Tech Crunch

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This post also appears on Very Social Network and Internet Dating Investments

Cobble, Dating App for Couples, Raises $3M

Posted on October 26, 2020

Cobble logoNEW YORK BUSINESS JOURNAL – Oct 24 – The app said the funding came from a group of investors including Kerr Tech Investments. Cobble, which is available in New York City, helps couples decide on things like what restaurants to go to, what movies to watch and what books to read. "We are trying to make it easier for couples to make decisions and communicate," said Jordan Scott, Cobble's founder and CEO. The app is hiring and plans to roll out into new cities in the near future.

by Ben Miller
See full article at New York Business Journal

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The Round, an Austin-based App, Takes Speed Dating Virtual

Posted on October 21, 2020

The round iconSTATESMAN – Oct 21 – Austin entrepreneur Zachary Casler estimates that dating app users spend ~10 hours a week swiping away looking for matches. But when it comes to his company's app, The Round, Casler is hoping users will spend just a few minutes a day. His app is designed to get users straight to a date. Casler, who serves as CEO, co-founded the company with Brian Atwood, who is CTO. The company has a team of 10 employees. Casler previously led Dindr, a food-focused dating app that will set up dinner and a date with a similar technology concept. However, Tinder sent the app a cease-and-desist letter because of the name similarity in 2018. Casler pivoted, founding The Round in July 2018. The app mirrors speed dating. At 2PM each day, users can set their preferences for where in Austin and what time they would like to go on a date, and look through a list of 5-15 profiles of people who chose the same preference. When a match is made, the app suggests date options. The Round raised $550K to date prior to its launch. It also is beginning another funding round, with the goal of raising $2M – $3M.

by Kara Carlson
See full article at Statesman

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Spectrum Labs Raises $10M for Its AI-based Platform to Combat Online Toxicity

Posted on September 24, 2020

Spectrum labs logoTECH CRUNCH – Sep 24 – Spectrum Labs – which has built algorithms and a set of APIs that can be used to detect toxic behavior, has raised $10M in a Series A round of funding. The company plans to use the capital to expand its platform. The company has raised ~$14M to date. Spectrum Labs works with a wide range of companies, including The Meet Group. Spectrum Labs' AI-based platform is currently set up to scan for ~40 kinds of toxic behavior profiles such as harassment, hate speech, scams, grooming, illegal solicitation, and doxxing.

by Ingrid Lunden
See full article at Tech Crunch

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TrulyMadly Raises Rs 8.1 Crore

Posted on September 1, 2020

Trulymadly logo 2020ECONOMIC TIMES – Aug 31 – Indian dating app TrulyMadly has raised $1.1M (Rs. 8.1 crore) from several angel investors and a venture capital firm. The company reported a revenue of Rs. 3.60 crore ($493.4k) in the financial year 2018, Rs. 3.48 crore ($476.9k) in 2019 and Rs. 3.45 crore ($472.8k) in 2020. However, this fiscal year, the company expects to reach Rs. 9 crore ($1.2M) in revenue.

by Megha Mandavia
See full article at Economic Times

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German Dating App, LemonSwan, Raised a 7-Digit Round

Posted on July 31, 2020

Lemonswan logo 2020GRUENDER – July 29 – There are currently ~17M single people in Germany. The online dating revenue in the country will be reach ~212M euros in 2020. The market is dominated by large providers such as Parship or Elitepartner, who aggressively advertise on TV and at S-Bahn stations. So are the large pieces of the cake already distributed? Arne Kahlke and Paul Uhlig don't believe that. The two are founders of dating app Lemon Swan. The app, which claims 250K users, launched 3 years ago. Kahlke has a lot of experience in connecting people. He not only built up Parship's marketing, but also founded ElitePartner in 2004 and sold the company to ProSiebenSat1. Lemon Swan's matching process is similar to that of ElitePartner and Parship – the app works with a psychological personality test and a matching algorithm – but so-called bouncers are also used to check users identity. After a capital injection in January 2019, the start-up has now received fresh capital in the seven-figure range. With the money, LemonSwan wants to become profitable in the German-speaking region in the Q1 2021, and to expand internationally.

by Marie-Charlotte Maas
See full article at Gruender

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Video Matchmaking App Yidui Completes Series B Financing Led by Sky9 Capital

Posted on June 30, 2020

Yidui iconGLOBE NEWSWIRE – June 26 – Yidui, the video matchmaking platform in China, has completed a Series B round of financing led by Sky9 Capital and Xiaomi. Launched in 2018, the company has ~40M users and has raised $100M to date. Yidui provides an innovative dating experience, where the date is moderated by a third person – a "matchmaker" – who facilitates the conversation. The date is live-streamed and the audience can comment and live-chat with the matchmaker. Yidui's 10M matchmakers arrange 40M dates a month. Sky9 Capital is an early-stage focused venture capital firm investing in internet, enterprise and deep-tech sectors in China.

See full article at Globe Newswire

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Kippo Raises $2M for a Dating App for Gamers

Posted on May 29, 2020

Kippo logoVENTURE BEAT – May 28 – Kippo has raised $2M for a dating app for gamers who want to find like-minded companions. Primer Sazze Partners led the round, with participation from Tinder executives and partners at Eaton Workshop, NextGen Venture, and IHeartComix. The capital will primarily be used to expand the interactive features on the app. The name for the company comes from a Korean word, and it's a twist on "happiness". The grand vision is to create a platform for everybody, a platform that is a gamified experience for people to meet new people". Gamers identify what games they like and include a lot of photos in their profiles. They also connect using in-game names, rather than phone numbers. 93% of Kippo users go on a virtual date and play video games together before meeting in-person. The company was founded in 2019 by David Park, Cheeyoon Lee, and Sean Suyeda.

by Dean Takahashi
See full article at Venture Beat

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Live Streaming Platform M17 Raises $26.5M in Series D Round

Posted on May 12, 2020

M17 Media logoDEALSTREET ASIA – May 11 – M17 Entertainment has landed $26.5M in a Series D funding round led by the Temasek-backed Vertex Growth Fund. The company will focus on deepening its presence in Japan and the rest of developed Asia, while planning expansion into the US and new markets such as the Middle East. M17 said it has the largest live streaming platform in developed Asia, with ~60% market share by revenue in Japan and Taiwan. M17’s estimated annual revenue is $180M. In 2018, M17 raised $25M. The company also raised a $40M Series A round in 2017. M17 was formed in April 2017 after the merger of Singapore-based Paktor Group and Taiwan-based 17 Media, a regional live streaming company. The company's main dating apps are Paktor and Goodnight. M17 had planned to list its Paktor dating and networking app on the New York Stock Exchange in a $115M IPO in 2018, but it withdrew the application after the IPO roadshow only raised $60M.

by Leslie Shaffer
See full article at DealStreet Asia

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Sam Altman Backs ‘Video-First’ Dating App Curtn

Posted on May 5, 2020

Curtn iconTECH CRUNCH – May 5 – A new dating app advised by Grindr founder Joel Simkhai and former YC chief Sam Altman is aiming to capitalize on the skyrocketing popularity of video chat. The new app, called Curtn, is pushing video as its differentiating factor, encouraging users to create short videos for their dating profiles and aiming to move conversations to video chat after users match. CEO Brenden Strauss and his co-founder and CTO, Benjamin Honig have some noteworthy advisors. For one, Strauss' boyfriend Joel Simkhai is the co-founder of Grindr and was one of his biggest inspirations for building out the app. Former YC president and current OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is also serving as an advisor and is one of the startup's first investors. The team has raised ~$425K pre-seed round of investment to get the app ready to share with the world.

by Lucas Matney
See full article at Tech Crunch

This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.com