Category: All Worldwide (non UK/Euro/US)

Sugarbook – Malaysia’s First Sugar Dating App

Posted on February 14, 2019

Sugarbook profileENTREPRENEUR – Feb 14 – Darren Chan is the founder and CEO of Malaysia's first and only sugar dating platform Sugarbook. Before, he founded Gigfairy, Malaysia's first live music booking platform, which later got acquired by Tune Studios of the AirAsia Group. According to Chan, sugar dating is a modern kind of dating. The app claims 300K members from 60 countries, predominantly from Malaysia, the US, Singapore and the Philippines. ~70% of the members are student "Sugar Babies" from universities, single mothers and divorcees. "Sugar Daddies" range between the age of 30-55, with an average annual income of $150K to $300K. Sugarbook has recently raised a six-digit figure from an undisclosed benefactor. Chan was bootstrapping from the beginning and it took him over four months to be able to pay his first hire.

by Pooja Singh
See full article at Entrepreneur

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Indian Matrimony Services

Posted on February 14, 2019

Lovevivah logoTHE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS – Feb 8 – The wedding industry in India is over $15B, and the online matrimonial market is expected to reach $318million by 2020. In India, arranged marriages have been the norm since time immemorial but in the last two decades we have seen a sea change. Now youngsters want to marry a person of their choice rather than that of their parents. Gorav Aggarwal started lovevivah.com in 2012 and has a 5-point authentication program.

See full article at The New Indian Express

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Momo Stock Gained 28% in January

Posted on February 12, 2019

Momo app logoTHE MOTLEY FOOL – Feb 11 – Momo stock lost ~46% of its value from October through December, and the stock posted big gains in January (up 28%) as the market regained some ground. There doesn't appear to have been any company-specific news behind the company's stock gains last month, but Momo trades at low multiples compared to its earnings trajectory, and investors piled back into the stock as skittishness in the broader market abated. Momo is a stock that could see more big gains if the country's tech sector continues to recover. The company's monthly active user base continues to climb (up 17% YOY last quarter).

See full article at Fox Business

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Local Indian Dating Sites Focus on Serious Relationships to Take on Tinder

Posted on February 11, 2019

Indian dating appsTIMES OF INDIA – TrulyMadly is one of the bigger and older local ventures in India. Co-founder & COO Snehil Khanor says the company caters to both casual and serious users, "but there's definitely more money in older cohorts." He says 80% of its paying users mention on their profile that they are looking for something serious. 50% of TrulyMadly users are 28+ years old, and 70% 26+. Sumesh Menon, co-founder and CEO of matchmaking app Woo, also says money flows in only from older users, who are both socially and financially dependent. BetterHalf.AI too pitches itself as a "serious matchmaking product for working professionals looking to get married in the next 1-2 years." Co-founder and CEO Pawan Gupta says matrimony sites are too overwhelming for today's generation. Matrimony, Shaadi and others that traditionally relied on revenue from parents, are transforming to attract singles while keeping parents still involved in the process. Murugavel Janakiraman, founder and CEO of Matrimony.com, says till the mid-2000s, parents registered on behalf of their daughters and sons. Not any more. "Today, ~60% of our 3.7M active members are individuals who register on their own." Investments in the segment have been small, and was at its peak in 2015 at $6.3M. That was the year when TrulyMadly raised $5.3M and iCrushiFlush raised $0.5M. Last year there was just one funding deal. According to comScore data, the number of unique visitors to Tinder in India had risen to as high as that of Shaadi in late 2017, and had continued to challenge the local players.

by Sindhu Hariharan
See full article at Times of India

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AI-Powered Dating App Betterhalf.AI Helps Users Find the Perfect Life Partner

Posted on February 11, 2019

Betterhalfai logoANALYTICS INDIA MAGAZINE – Feb 10 – Two MIT alumni, Pawan Gupta and Rahul Namdev started Betterhalf.AI in 2016. Betterhalf.AI dating app uses artificial intelligence for professionals to find each other through compatibility scores based on multiple relationship dimensions and their interactions on the product. Currently, Betterhalf.AI has ~17k users, 30% are entrepreneurs, fashion designers, scientists and bankers. The profiles are authenticated through six levels of verification that includes LinkedIn, Facebook, personal email, phone number, work email, and a Government ID. Compatibility scores are calculated based on six-relationship dimensions: emotional, social, intellectual, relationship, physical, and moral values.

by Harshajit Sarmah
See full article at Analytics India Magazine

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Malaysian Dating App Sugarbook.com Raises Seed Capital

Posted on February 4, 2019

Sugarbook profileDEALSTREET ASIA – Feb 4 – Malaysia-based "Sugar Daddy" dating app Sugarbook.com has raised a six-digit seed round from an angel investor. The angel investor comes from an investment banking background from a Hong Kong VC firm. According to Sugarbook, the proceeds will be used to scale and develop its product and infrastructure. Founded in 2017, Sugarbook has 300K members across 60 countries including Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and the US. The company generates revenue from monthly subscriptions and packages for sugar babies and daddies.

by Kristie Neo
See full article at Dealstreet Asia

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This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.com

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Lunch Actually CEO on Dating in the Age of Tinder

Posted on February 2, 2019

VULCAN POST – Feb 1 – Lunch Actually Group‘s CEO recently took to the stage at TEDxNTU to share what dating apps and algorithms don’t tell us, and why true love actually happens offline. She spoke about her personal experience with dating, along with what she feels about dating services in the market now.

by Melissa Chan
See full article at Vulcan Post

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Indian Women Are Breaking the Divorce Stigma

Posted on January 29, 2019

Divorce picECONOMIC TIMES – Jan 27 – India still remains at the top of the list of countries with the lowest divorce rates. Divorces are riddled with stigma in India. But women are challenging that perception now and pushing for a change. ~110K Facebook users from India openly state their relationship status as "divorced". Though women comprise only a fifth of this figure, they surpass men by expressing interest in the concept of a "divorce party" or liking pages around the "happily divorced" theme. Dating app Truly Madly has seen a 200% increase in the number of profiles stating their divorced, widowed, or single-parent status upfront. In 2016, 3% of Truly Madly's user base would have such statuses.

by Shephali Bhatt
See full article at Economic Times

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73.4 % of Chinese Consider Live Streaming to Be a Legitimate Profession

Posted on January 25, 2019

Momo app logoMEDIUM – Jan 24 – Momo, one of China's largest live streaming platforms, has published the 2018 Live Streaming Profession Report. According to the report, 73.4% of respondents believe that live streaming is a profession, and ~30% of users said that one of their friends or family members is a live streamer. Women in their 20s dominate the profession. 21% of full-time broadcasters and 9.6% of part-time broadcasters earn over 10,000 RMB ($1,478) per month from streaming. The average salary in Beijing is 8,467 RMB.

by Lauren Hallanan
See full article at Medium

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Chinese Companies Offer ‘Dating Leave’ to Single Female Employees Aged 30+

Posted on January 23, 2019

Chinese womenINDEPENDENT.CO.UK – Jan 23 – Two companies in China are giving single female employees over the age of 30 an extra eight days of annual "dating leave" over the Chinese New Year to "go home and date". Single women in China in their late 20s and early 30s are deemed to be "leftover women," or shengnu, due to engrained traditional beliefs that women who are not married by then are undesirable. But more women are now choosing to focus on their careers and are marrying later or simply not marrying at all. 

by Maya Oppenheim
See full article at Independent.co.uk

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