by Sara Ashley O'Brien
The full article was originally published at WPTV, but is no longer available.
Category: All Investment Raises
Tantan, A Chinese Tinder Clone, Raises $5M
TECH IN ASIA – Feb 3 – Tantan is Tinder's carbon copy. It’s not clear how many users Tantan has. The iOS version has just three reviews on the iTunes store, one of which complains about a lack of users. But founders Pan Ying and Wang Yu claim that the app has a weekly active user rate of 80%.
by C. Custer
The full article was originally published at Tech In Asia, but is no longer available.
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.
Online Dating Odds Getting Better
UT SAN DIEGO – Jan 26 – Online dating has a reputation for failing but the odds are improving with new startups entering the market, such as SingldOut, Wyldfire and Neqtr. SingldOut, a service that uses LinkedIn and DNA to predict matches, raised $600K last year. Wyldfire, an app that lets the women vet and pick which men are allowed into their dating community, just raised $450K. "It's very inspirational to see all these newcomers, because we haven't had enough innovation in this industry," said Mark Brooks, an online dating analyst and consultant. The matchmaking industry has been behind the technology curve for years, he said. "People like Internet dating, because it gives them more options and lets them get the tough questions out of the way up front." The market is full. "It’s a very sexy business", said Brooks. "Singldout is interesting because of the LinkedIn login…not so much the DNA, because that's been done before and it failed because it was too expensive," he said. "Wyldfire probably has the most promise because it gets at the authentication and validation that's currently missing from most sites. Women are pretty good at weeding out the creeps. I like Neqtr because of the donation element. They're getting people at their point of passion, which is helping people, and I think this is a very good matchmaking criteria. I think it will be streamlined, and they won't need quite so many people to grow," said Mark Brooks.
by Katherine P. Harvey
See full article at UT San Diego
Dating App The League Raises $2.1M
TECH CRUNCH – Jan 22 – Investors in the round include IDG Ventures, Structure.vc and Sherpa Ventures along with angel investors, including Allen DeBevoise, Naomi Gleit, Mark Leslie, Russ Siegelmann, and Peter Kelly. One additional undisclosed venture fund and an undisclosed angel investor also participated. The cash will be used to double its two-person engineering team and continue its very methodical rollout strategy.
by Jonathan Shieber
See full article at Tech Crunch
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Zoosk Ditches IPO Plan As Founders Exit Leadership Roles
TECH CRUNCH – Dec 17 – Zoosk's CFO Kelly Steckelberg is taking over as CEO. She will be replacing co-founder Shayan Zadeh, who is becoming a member of the board, and his co-founder Alex Mehr (currently president) will also be moving into a board position. The shift comes at a time when Zoosk is reassessing the idea of an IPO. The company filed an S-1 for a $100M IPO, but has since decided to revisit that option at a later date.
by Jordan Crook
See full article at Tech Crunch
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Momo’s Impressive IPO
NASDAQ – Dec 16 – Alibaba-backed Chinese social media firm Momo Inc.'s IPO was an impressive one. Shares of the company surged 26% to $17.02 on December 11. The IPO was priced at $13.50. Launched in 2011 by Tang Yan, Momo is a mobile IM app that lets users post their pictures and profiles. In Chinese, Momo means unacquainted and it is sometimes referred to as China's Tinder. The app is free. But users can upgrade to get "VIP logos," advanced search and the right to follow more users for $18 a year. The app had 180M registered accounts, 60M monthly active users (MAU) and 2.3M paying subscribers at the end of Sep.
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.
Blinq Tells Users If Their Dating Matches Are In The Bar
TECH CRUNCH – Dec 14 – Swiss startup Blinq is incorporating beacon proximity technology. Blinq's app feature called InstaConnect lets users opt in to be notified if any of their dating matches or singles that fit their criteria happen to be hanging out at the same location. The Blinq team has raised ~$500K in early funding from Swiss angel investors.
by Natasha Lomas
See full article at Tech Crunch
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.
China Dating App Momo Goes Ahead With Nasdaq IPO
SCMP – Dec 11 – Allegations of misconduct against a former employee just 40 hours before his new venture Momo went public have created a media backlash against NetEase – China's fifth-largest internet firm by market value. Tang Yan, CEO of mobile dating app Momo, was accused of "acquiring information and technological resources" to establish his own firm in 2011, while still working as the editor-in-chief of NetEase's news portal 163.com the firm alleged on Wednesday. Momo's IPO went ahead as planned on Thursday on Nasdaq, raising $216M. The stock rose 26% during the trading day, ending at $17.02, giving Momo a market capitalisation of $3.17B.
by Chris Luo
See full article at SCMP
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.
Hinge Raises $12 Million
MASHABLE – Dec 11 – Mobile startup Hinge has raised $12M in Series A funding. Hinge had previously brought in $8.6M in seed funding and convertible notes. Shasta Ventures led the round, along with previous investors including Lowercase, Great Oaks, Eniac and CAA ventures. The funding will be used to bring the app into more markets. Hinge is currently available in 28 cities, 24 of which were launched in 2014. The company recently brought in former Spotify employee Eric Bogs to heads up its engineering team.
by Jason Abbruzzese
See full article at Mashable
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Happn Attracts $8 Million To Roll Out Its Tinder-Like App Globally
TECH CRUNCH – Dec 11 – French dating app Happn just raised an $8M Series A round from Alven Capital and DN Capital, as well as business angels, such as Fabrice Grinda. Happn uses phone’s location to show users potential matches. Happn is now available in Paris, London, Berlin, Barcelona, Madrid and New York. Out of its user base of 1M people, 200K people use Happn every day.
by Romain Dillet
See full article at Tech Crunch
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