GAY STAR NEWS – Dec 2 – Gay dating app Blued claims 2M users since its launch in Aug '12 and plans to launch Pinkd, a dating app for Chinese lesbians. The startup firm behind the apps, DanLan, is yet to figure out how to make money but attracted a $3M investment this year. It is estimated that there are ~25M gay men in China but most choose to marry to keep their parents happy.
by Andrew Potts
See full article at Gay Star News
TECH CRUNCH – Nov 4 – Mobile dating app, Hinge, has raised a $4M Series A from Great Oaks, Social + Capital, and more. At first glance, the app looks like Tinder. It gives you one potential mate at a time that you can swipe right to approve or swipe left to dismiss. If two people approve each other, they’re allowed to chat within Hinge. Founder Justin McLeod believes that people use this app to find romance as opposed to Tinder, mostly known for hookups. Since expanding beyond its home city of DC in August to New York and Boston, Hinge has doubled its user count to 60K.
by Josh Constine
See full article at Tech Crunch
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.
PR WEB – Oct 11 – DatesMatch.net, a dating site for serious daters, has secured £750K in funding from private investors. The company will use the money to grow its membership from 3M to 5M. The site launched in 2010, is based in Edinburgh, Scotland but operating internationally.
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.
NEWSWEEK – Oct 10 – Fortress Investments, a New York hedge fund, will loan Avid Life Media $50M over two years. Encouraging news for Noel Biderman who has been trashed by everyone including Dr. Phil. "The pursuit of an infidelity is a biological drive." Biderman believes his business is good business. He owns 10% of the company which made $30M in profits on $90M revenues in 2012, and expects $40M in profits on $120M in revenues this year. Male users buy credits that cover email and chat conversations ($49/100 credits = 20 emails). Women are free. Upgrades include Priority Man which highlights a man's profile, and The BlackBook app which hides a user's real phone number under a "disposable" number. The Affair Guarantee package is $249 and promises buyers a refund if they don't have an affair within three months. There's no advertising on the site. ~70% of paid members are male 40+, and of that group, 84% are married.
by Lynnley Browning
See full article at Newsweek
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VENTURE BEAT – Sep 26 – HowAboutWe’s parent company, ThisLife, has closed $4.2M of a $5M round. This brings the company’s total capital raised to $23.3M. The company is now adding 100K users a month.
by Rebecca Grant
See full article at Venture Beat
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.
TECH CRUNCH – Sep 21 – Dattch is a dating app exclusively for lesbians, bisexual and/or bi-curious women, designed by a female team. The app has just closed a £100,000/$160,000 angel/small seed round. "The gay female dating scene is badly served," says founder and CEO Robyn Exton. “Nobody was thinking about a female user, and actually how do women behave? What kind of triggers are they looking for?" So what are gay women looking for? Firstly, lots and lots of photos. Photos of where you live, what you wear, things you like, places you want to go. Dattch is taking its design inspiration from Pinterest. The app’s other focus is a text-based messaging feature.
by Natasha Lomas
See full article at Tech Crunch
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.
TECH IN ASIA – Sep 24 – Noonswoon, the winner of a recent AIS startup contest, raised $400K from various investors. Noonswoon is not the only dating app available in Southeast Asia. There’s Paktor in Thailand, Avalable in Thailand, and SingleAroundMe in Singapore.
by Saiyai Sakawee
See full article at Tech in Asia
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BUSINESS-STANDARD – June 11 – Chennai-based privately-held Consim Info, which owns BharatMatrimony.com, has changed its name to Matrimony.com. With this, the company would offer all its matrimony services under Matrimony.com. The company is planning to raise $100-$125M through an IPO this year. The company was running various matrimony brands under different names. (EliteMatrimony, PrivilegedMatrimony, AssistedMatrimony and PopularMatrimony). This would help it to offer various matrimony platforms and services under a single brand. So far, Matrimony.com has raised ~$20M.
MEETME – May 1 – MeetMe closed an $8m line of credit arranged by Westech Investment Advisors, a manager of tech venture debt funds based in Silicon Valley which has arranged loans to Facebook and Google. MeetMe is available in a dozen languages and just launched its mobile premium subscription product MeetMe+.
This post also appears on SocialNetworkingWatch and InternetDatingInvestments.
