LIFE.RU – Mar 16 – VKontakte added an inside app called "Znakomstva" ("dating" in Russian) into its social network platform. The app is similar to Tinder. Users swipe of profiles and if there is a mutual interest, the system will connect them and offer a chat.
by Andrey Stavitskiy
See full article at Life.ru
FINSMES – Mar 14 – Hicky, the German startup that is advancing a dating platform that leverages blockchain technology, has reached the soft cap of its token sale. The funds will be used to launch its DApp in english, making it available to users in the European market before expanding to further countries. The Alpha release will include encrypted messaging, encrypted data storage and identity verification via face scan technology.
TIMESLIVE.CO.ZA – Mar 12 – With a population of only 320k, it's one of the least densly populated countries on earth. The chances of hooking up with someone they're related to is so high that it's become something of a running joke. But they have a dating app called ÍslendingaApp SES. It evolved out of a project which began in the 90's, called Islendiga (The Book of Icelanders), which provides an almost complete record of the genealogy of the country dating back at least 300 years. Users simply place their phones next to each other and the app will tell them how closely related they are.
by Jessica Brodie
See full article at TimesLive.co.za
OPW – Feb 26 – Ladies & Gentlemen is a Hungarian Dating platform which is looking for a merger or a sell-off. It apparently has 8000+ registered members. 57% male. This online dating platform is listed for auction at a starting price of $50k USD. More info here.
See all domains & sites for sale
Post by Mark Brooks , CEO IDEA
PRIVATE EQUITY NEWS – Feb 22 – U.S. private-equity firm General Atlantic has bought a 25% stake in NuCom Group, the digital business of German media company ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE. The deal valued NuCom at €1.8B, including debt, ProSieben said in a statement. The unit consists of 10 businesses, including online dating site Parship Elite Group and energy price-comparison business Verivox, and generated ~€650M of revenue in 2017. As part of the deal, ProSieben and General Atlantic have bought the minority stakes in Verivox and Parship held by Oakley Capital. The London buyout firm retained minority stakes in both businesses when it sold them to ProSieben in 2015 and 2016 respectively. Parship delivered an nearly five-times return on Oakley's invested capital, while the Verivox investment returned two and a half times its money.
by William Louch
See full article at Private Equity News
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Q: What problem do you want to solve with LemonSwan?
A: 18 years of Parship and 14 years of ElitePartner – but the single numbers are as high as never before. There are ~23M singles in Germany, including 2.7M single parents. There is a huge market potential.
Q: Isn't online dating market already totally saturated?
A: Women who are serious have very little choice with Parship and ElitePartner. But single parents can not afford a costly membership – they simply do not have a suitable alternative yet. The dating market is by no means saturated. With LemonSwan we close the gap in the market and hopefully will soon reverse the single trend.
Q: Who are your competitors?
A: We are 100% free for single parents, students and trainees. So we are very unique.
WYBORCZA.PL – Feb 14 – ~26% of respondents admitted that they using online dating apps. And 19% said they currently in a relationship with someone they met online. (Ipsos study, commissioned by Huawei). Badoo is #1 dating app in Poland, followed by Tinder, Grindr and Meetville.
BUSINESS INSIDER – Feb 9 – A survey of 1K singles by the digital association Bitkom found that 1 in 3 German Internet users searches for a partner online. The most popular are paid services like Parship, eDarling or ElitePartner. On average, they spend ~38 euros per month. In addition, many singles use several apps at the same time: 59 percent of respondents say they use not just one service, but two or more services.
INDEPENDENT.CO.UK – Jan 30 – That's £117 per person and nearly a whole day on bad dates. On each date, the average Brit will spend £29 per person. The research by eHarmony claims that the average bad date lasts just 60 minutes. This is two hours shorter than the average date overall, which is three hours long. The study also found that 52% of dates leave singletons feeling disappointed.
NYTIMES – Jan 18 – Britain has a serious problem with loneliness, research has found. ~9M people in the country often or always feel lonely, according to a 2017 report published by the Jo Cox Commission on Loneliness. Government research has found that ~200K older people in Britain had not had a conversation with a friend or relative in more than a month. The issue prompted Prime Minister Theresa May to appoint a minister for loneliness. Tracey Crouch, who is the under secretary for sport and civil society in the culture ministry, would lead a governmentwide group to build on Ms. Cox's legacy and establish policies on the issue.