YOURSTORY – Sep 11 – Indian dating app GoGaga was incubated as part of the 2018 FbStart programme. It is now targeting $500K in revenue with a 35% profit margin. The app was started by Neha Kanodia and Meet Kanodia in 2018 in Bengaluru, and is similar to meeting people offline, replaces a common intermediate with a trustworthy mutual friend who makes the introduction, and vouches for the connection. The GoGaga team is six-members strong with the app claiming ~40K users, of which over 30% were brought in through word-of-mouth. In September 2018, GoGaga got shortlisted to be a part of the FbStart programme, which is an incubation programme from Facebook designed to help early-stage mobile startups build and grow their apps. The app received $40K from Facebook.
Category: All Worldwide (non UK/Euro/US)
YY Rebrands Its Social Platform to Speed-dating App ‘Zhuiya’
TECHNODE – Sep 5 – Chinese live-streaming company YY is relaunching its "Shiting PK" social app to "Zhuiya" to include speed-dating functionalities based on common interests, targeting users 18 – 30 years old. Upon logging in, users are required to choose from a number of interest tags, after which they are redirected to a chat room with other users who have picked the same tags, featuring a matchmaker moderator. In the chat room, users can start three-minute private speed-dating sessions with other users. Zhuiya also has live-streaming features.
Online Matchmaker Love Group Cuts Staff Amid Protests in Hong Kong
STOCKHEAD – Sep 4 – Financial markets are watching closely as the ongoing political crisis in Hong Kong stretches into its third month. As clashes between protestors and police become increasingly violent, many analysts are questioning how it will affect Hong Kong's standing as a trading hub and international finance centre. This has also affected the business of matchmaking. Matchmaking company Love Group had reduced marketing spend and shed some part-time staff, in order to cut costs to match the corresponding decrease in revenue.
M17’s CEO Joseph Phua on Asia’s Diversifying Live Streaming Landscape
KRASIA – Sep 4 – After a botched IPO, M17 is carving out its niche as a B2B live streaming platform. By revenue, BIGO is the biggest live streaming platform in Southeast Asia, followed by VivaVideo, also a China-owned app, and MLive, an Australian-owned app. The fourth is 17, owned by Hong Kong- and Taiwan-based M17 Group. M17 is linked to Southeast Asia because it's the result of a merger between Singaporean dating app Paktor and 17's predecessor.
Q: You started out building a dating app in Singapore. How did you end up as the CEO of a live streaming company based out of Taiwan?
Joseph Phua (JP): When I was single and started using Tinder I wanted to bring the app to Southeast Asia. That's when we built Paktor in 2013. I met my current business partner Jeffrey Huang, in 2014. We were competitors at that time, but in 2015 he stopped working on the dating app and started live streaming. At some point he was going through operational difficulties. One of the investors backed out after signing a binding agreement. I stepped in and we decided to merge 17 and Paktor, and I took over as CEO. M17 and Paktor still operate as standalone apps.
Q: What's the difference between BIGO and M17?
JP: We target mature markets. Our competitors are targeting developing markets with low ARPU so they need a big user base.
Q: You took a hit with the last minute cancellation of the IPO. What happened, and what are your new plans?
JP: We decided to withdraw and now we are looking towards building the business. We expect to make $300M in revenue this year, we're profitable. We have 50M registered users.
Q: Where's live streaming headed next?
JP: You cannot escape live streaming. Online dating was a taboo just a few years ago, now it's normal. Same with live streaming. It's already mainstream and all around us. We're already working with major media corporations.
Momo’s Stock Price Likely to Remain Volatile as Growth Slows
GRIZZLE – Sep 3 – Momo released Q2 results last week which were better than expected. The stock price have also received a boost from Zao, the face swapping app which went viral over the weekend. For Q2 revenue grew 32% to $604M, $25M ahead of consensus. But revenue from live streaming video is seeing a dramatic slowdown in growth. This segment grew revenue 18%, vs 32% for the entire company. Value added revenue, which includes virtual gifting, was the main growth driver and increased 169%. Momo faced several challenges, including the temporary suspension in May of the homepage and its Tantan dating app. However, the stock still has a strong following. Going forward, this share is likely to be driven by sentiment more than anything else. As such it may best be treated as a trading stock.
Momo’s New App ZAO Sparks Mass Downloads and Major Concerns
RADII – Aug 30 – Momo's new face swap app Zao is the hottest thing on the Chinese internet right now. But the app is also raising a host of privacy concerns on Chinese social media. Users take a selfie and put themselves into their favorite movie or soap opera. Zao user agreement states that the app gives Momo global rights to use any imagery created on the app for free. Once a user has opted in, there doesn't seem to be the right to revoke the agreement.
Gay Dating App Blued Plans U.S. IPO at $1 Billion Value
BLOOMBERG – Aug 30 – Blued, China's largest gay-dating app, is planning a U.S. IPO that could raise ~$200M. The share sale will likely take place next year and could value Blued at ~1 billion. Founded in 2012 by former policeman Geng Le, Blued has become an icon for the Chinese LGBT community and attracted ~$130M in venture capital as of March. The dating app also offers live streaming and connects men who want to become parents with overseas surrogates.
by Crystal Tse, Lulu Yilun & Manuel Baigorri
See full article at Bloomberg
Momo’s Q2 Financial Results
PRESS RELEASE – Aug 27 – Net revenues increased by 32% YOY to RMB4,152.6M ($605M) in the Q2'19. Net income slightly decreased to RMB731.8M ($106.6M). Monthly Active Users on Momo app were 113.5M in June 2019, compared to 108M in June 2018. Total paying users of the company's live video service and value-added service, including 3.2M paying users of Tantan, were 11.8M, up from 11.6M in Q2'18.
Singapore Rent-a-date Services
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST – Aug 24 – In many Asian cities, where the cost of living is high and careers often come first, it's hard for people to find a partner. In Singapore, men and even some women are choosing to rent a date instead of looking for long-term love. Maybe.sg provides male and female dates, with its prices ranging from S$80 ($58) to S$380 ($274) for a minimum of two hours. SG VIP Escorts was set up in 2017. The company's rates range from S$600 ($430) to S$1,400 ($1000) for an hour, and can go up to S$10,000 ($7200) for "special events", such as public events lasting four hours.
S’pore Dating App Paktor Launches 15-Sec Voice Bios
by Alanna Tan
See full article at Vulcan Post