TIMES OF INDIA – June 18 – Bharat Matrimony has launched a new online video chat feature. Woman can only receive video calls from premium members they contacted or responded to earlier. On the other hand, men can get video calls from any premium female member and will be able to call only women who responded to their earlier enquiry.
Category: All Worldwide (non UK/Euro/US)
Ashley Madison’s Users Rise in Taiwan After Adultery Ruling
TAIPEI TIMES – June 15 – Ashley Madison's membership in Taiwan has risen 70% following last month's ruling by the Council of Grand Justices decriminalizing adultery, and the majority of new members are women. Ashley Madison chief strategist Paul Keable said Asia was unique, as women make up the majority of its membership, adding that 1.9M members are from Taiwan. Awakening Foundation general secretary Chou Yu-hsuan said that Ashley Madison's increased membership could be an indication that the grand justices' ruling had empowered women to pursue their desires. The ruling was not intended to encourage people to have affairs and she did not condone people joining the website, she said.
by Wu Cheng-feng and William Hetherington
See full article at Taipei Times
Japan to Ban Forcible Outing of LGBTQI People
STAROBSERVER – June 12 – Forcible outing of LGBTQI persons may soon be a criminal offence in a region in Japan. The proposed law will penalise a person or organisation which either forces an LGBTQI person to come out against their will or reveals their sexual orientation or gender identity without their consent.
Tinder Is Supporting Women-led Businesses in India With Free in-app Inventory
ECONOMIC TIMES – June 5 – Tinder has offered up to $1M in free in-app advertising for eligible female-led businesses, to introduce them to an engaged and young audience and to help amplify their vision.
BharatMatrimony Launches Home Wedding Platform
PRAGATIVADI – June 3 – BharatMatrimony is launching a platform "HomeWeddings", on Matrimony Bazaar, to provide the entire range of COVID-Safe wedding services from catering to makeup including purohits at the doorstep, to help couples happily tie the knot. This service is open to the public, not just BharatMatrimony members. Launched in 2016, Matrimony Bazaar is India's largest wedding planning marketplace that provides wedding services, ranging from catering to clothing. The platform has ~22K verified wedding service providers across 37 cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai, Cochin and Bengaluru.
Hily Dating App Comes to Japan
BUSINESSWIRE – May 26 – Hily, one of the fastest-growing dating apps in the world that gathered ~11M users just in one year, is now available in Japan. Hily's primary goal is to provide its users with better communication. The app matches the users based on ~40 entry points. Hily's newest feature called Compatibility Quiz allows users to check if they are compatible with people they want to swipe right on. The system will show detailed results with points they had in common and a description of their prospective relationship. For Hily, the Japanese launch is the first move to Asia. Last year, the dating app successfully rolled out to 20 countries in Europe and Latin America.
Matrimony.com Q4 Results: ~$900K Net Profit
ECONOMIC TIMES – May 21 – Online matchmaking service provider Matrimony has recorded consolidated net profits of Rs 6.77 crore ($895K) for the quarter ending March 31, 2020. For the full year ending March 31, 2020 net profits were Rs 29.53 crore ($3.9M, down from Rs 42.45 crore ($5.6M) in 2018-19 fiscal. The revenues for the quarter grew by 4.5% YOY to Rs 94.1 crore ($12.4M) and for the year by 6.7% to Rs 371.8 crore ($50M). The number of paying subscriber is 704K.
Paktor Acquired by Singapore Advisory Firm Kollective Ventures
TECH IN ASIA – May 21 – Singapore-based advisory firm Kollective Ventures has acquired dating and networking app operator Paktor Group from Taiwan's M17 Entertainment. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Paktor Group was formed in 2013 by M17's current CEO Joseph Phua. It owns a number of dating assets, including its namesake app that has operations in Taiwan, Korea, and Southeast Asia. It also runs Goodnight, an app that enables voice conversations between strangers. Paktor was merged with livestreaming company 17 Media in April 2017 to form M17.
by Miguel Cordon
See full article at Tech In Asia
See the top news on Paktor
See the top news on Goodnight
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.com
India Gay Matchmaking Service, Arranged Gay Marriage Bureau, Under Fire
NBC NEWS – May 19 – The Arranged Gay Marriage Bureau, which promises to help Indian gay men and lesbians find love, is accused by some of being a "malicious" scam. The matchmaking service was the subject of a Vice Media report last month titled "The Arranged Gay Marriage Scam." The 20-minute documentary follows two U.K.-based clients of the service – the documentary's host, Reeta Loi, and a man referred to only as Keith – who, after 11 months, each received just a handful of dating profiles. At the end of the film, Loi calls the bureau a "malicious" scam.
Muslim Matchmaking Platform Hawaya Expands Across GCC
ZAWYA – May 18 – Following its success in Egypt, Hawaya (previously Harmonica, acquired by Match Group in 2019), a Cairo-based mobile dating app that approaches matchmaking with respect for Muslim traditions and cultures, has announced the expansion across the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council – Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman. Hawaya was founded in 2017 by an Egyptian entrepreneur, Sameh Saleh, who crafted the app to help his sister go through a safe journey towards marriage. The name Hawaya was inspired by the word "Hawa" which means "love" in Arabic.