TECH CRUNCH – Oct 21 – From today, European Facebook users can opt into Facebook Dating by creating a profile at facebook.com/dating. Among the dating product's main features are the ability to share Stories on users' profile; a Secret Crush feature that let people select up to nine of their Facebook friends or Instagram followers who they'd like to date (without them knowing unless they also add them – triggering a match notification); the ability to see people with similar interests; and a video chat feature called Virtual Dates. Since the launch of Facebook's dating product in 20 countries around the world – including the U.S. and a number of markets in Asia and LatAm – the company says ~1.5B matches have been "created".
Category: All UK & Europe
Online Daters Are More Likely to Catch an STI
DAILY MAIL – Oct 21 – People using dating apps to 'hook up' are more likely to have an sexually transmitted infection and not use protection than those who meet in other ways, a study has found. A team from the Public Health Agency of Sweden surveyed ~14,500 men and women aged 16 to 84 about their sexual behaviour, online dating and health. 11% of men said they'd used the Internet to meet sexual partners, compared to 7% of women.
Dua Signs Romania Partner, Interview With CEO Valon Asani
OPW INTERVIEW – Oct 16 – Dua is a dating and networking app for Albanians and diaspora. But that's not the entirety of their business play. They're proving out their app in Albania but then they've been on the prowl for partners to expand to other countries with considerable portions of their natives who form as diaspora around the world. They're uniting diaspora in their apps. Brilliant. We've seen World Singles do something similar in the past with Eligible Greeks and Iranian Personals. Now Dua is following a similar path. Starting with Albanians, and now Romanians. They just announce that they have a partner helping them to expand into Romania (see news). I interviewed CEO/Founder Valon Asani. – Mark Brooks
How is Dua different from the likes of other matchmaking and online dating apps? What is your focus?
260 million people are living outside the country they were born in. We are on a mission to revolutionize the way how globally fragmented communities connect with each other. We understand the importance of the community and how to connect people living in diasporas with their home countries. Diaspora Intelligence is the new way of operating diaspora engagement and interconnecting people of global communities.
Our focus is not only in niche markets, but we have a hyper-focus on niche markets with a huge diaspora. Our Diaspora Intelligence Platform is made to connect people from the same community within the diaspora and with their home country. Specific features like 'Change virtual location', 'Hot Places' & 'Cross-Path' make that possible.
Why is Romania your next partner-vertical?
Romania is a super interesting market, over 26 million people and 6.6 million Romanians living in the diaspora. In Europe, Romania is the third largest remittance recipient. The diaspora is well connected and sends over 4 billion Euro yearly back to the home country. 10% yearly growth in social media users. The country is investing billions in digitalization. A perfect match for our matchmaking technology with our local partners in Romania. We started with the Albanian market (dua.com) and the Romanians have a similar culture and therefore the differences are minimal, which makes it easier for us to enter this market.
What are you looking for in an ideal partner?
We're looking for marketing partners who understand the local culture and help to connect their diasporas. People with an entrepreneur spirit, well connected, understanding the value of technology and matchmaking. These are the basics. From that point, we can start talking about how to implement our Diaspora Intelligence Platform with our partner into the next market.
What will Dua look like in 2 years time?
We will have crossed 10 million users in 4 different countries with big diasporas. Our Diaspora Intelligence Technology is changing the way how global communities are connected.
One day, all people who got separated from their communities will have the opportunity to connect again with their community members. Anywhere. Anytime. Anyone. People of socially connected communities are more likely to thrive, to love, to make an impact. Social impact. Business impact. Positive impact. Sources: dua.solutions & dua.com/en/
Sending Unsolicited Dick Pics Soon to Be Illegal in Finland
Albanian Dating App Dua.com Launches With Cisgender and Heterosexual Options Only
German Dating App, LemonSwan, Raised a 7-Digit Round
GRUENDER – 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
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.com
Dating Is Costing Brits £1,300 a Year
MARIECLAIRE.CO.UK – July 28 – Looking for love is costing single Brits ~£1,349 a year. Plenty of Fish surveyed 2K single adults and found that on average, they go on thirteen dates a year with each meet-up costing ~£106.06.
Matchmaking at Lisdoonvarna Cancelled Due to Covid-19
IRISHNEWS – July 20 – The globally famous event, which takes place in the Co Clare town every September, attracts thousands of people from around the world who hope to find their perfect match. The organisers said the cancellation "will also be felt deeply by many businesses in the area as it brings in more than €2.5M annually to the local economy".
eharmony Sees 85% Increase in UK App Registrations During Covid-19 Lockdown
PRESS.AT – July 7 – eharmony has seen its app registration figures increase by 85% YOY in the UK during lockdown – in the period between January and June 2020. Driving this increase has been the success of Video Date, which enabled singles to keep connecting romantically during lockdown and beyond.
Dating Apps in Balkan
BALKAN INSIGHT – June 29 – Like the rest of the world, the Balkans has seen a rise in the use of dating apps during the pandemic, with data showing the length of daily conversations is increasing. While Tinder is the most popular dating app across Europe, in Romania and Bulgaria it is Badoo that is used the most. Created in 2006 by Russian entrepreneur Andrey Andreev, Badoo now has ~450M users globally, with daily messages sent between users exceeding 350M. "Our data shows that more conversations are happening now, with increases of up to 35%," said Tristan Pineiro, Badoo's global head of communications. In other Balkan countries, dating apps are used more sparingly. One such place is North Macedonia, where the use of dating apps like Tinder are still frowned upon. For some, Instagram functions as a dating app instead.