HIT – Jan 21 – Bumble has hit the 2M user mark this week in Australia, just over two years after it launched here in December 2016. Bumble now claims ~48M users globally.
Category: All Worldwide (non UK/Euro/US)
The Biggest Pitfalls of Online Dating in India
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Korean Dating App Amanda Claims 5M Users
THE INVESTOR – Jan 10 – Amanda is a dating app that has shot to the top of the industry charts over the past few years. In the Q2 of 2018, Amanda ranked first in terms of sales in the local dating app market, with ~5M users. This year, the industry is expected to hit 500B won ($446M) in South Korea. One way of quality control at Amanda is through the so-called "member-screening system." People who want to join must be judged by existing members and obtain a score of 3.0 or higher. "Koreans don't like meeting strangers online, especially women, who like to meet people who've already been approved by their friends or peers," explained Shin Sang-hoon, co-founder and CEO of NextMatch, the operator of Amanda.
Young Indians Are Driven by Self-discovery, Reveals Tinder Study
LIVEMINT.COM – Jan 9 – The 18-25 year olds prefer to date as a way to learn more about themselves. They are investing at least five years on self discovery, according to a new study done by Tinder. Also, 56% young Indians in the above age group believe in making their parents proud, followed by building strong friendships (56%), finishing education (52%) and exploring the world along with meeting different people (42%).
TrulyMadly Turns Profitable in FY18 But Revenue Down by 50%
ENTRACKR – Jan 9 – Online dating has been a tough business to crack in India. This can be gauged from the financial performance of TrulyMadly. While the company has turned profitable in FY18, its revenue has suffered a 50% dip during the same fiscal. With Rs 2.3 lakhs ($3K) worth of profit, TrulyMadly has posted a revenue of Rs 3.61 crore ($500K) in FY18 as compared to Rs 7.21 crore ($1M) in the preceding fiscal. Subscription has contributed ~54.2% of overall revenue in FY18. Its revenue from paid service stood at Rs 1.95 crore ($276K) which is 69.8% up from the previous fiscal. Founded by Sachin Bhatia, Hitesh Dhingra, and Rahul Kumar, TrulyMadly lets singles discover each other through shared interests and personality profiles. The company competes with Tinder, Hyderabad-based QuackQuack, Woo, Bumble and a handful of others.
Blued, Chinese Gay Dating App, Halts Registration After Underage HIV Report
REUTERS – Jan 5 – Chinese gay dating app Blued is halting new user registration for a week, following media reports that underage users caught HIV after going on dates set up via the app. In response, Blued vowed to launch a "comprehensive content audit and regulation," and crack down on underage users posing as adults. Blued, which was launched in 2010 and now boasts 40M registered users, is backed by state-run media Beijing News.
Is Bumble Trying to Characterize Tinder Users As “Loose”?
EDTIMES – Jan 5 – Bumble has started an aggressive marketing campaign in India to establish themselves in this highly lucrative market. In their video ad, PeeCee (Priyanka Chopra) is shown to be first a corporate hotshot, with the title "Ambitious, not loose" followed by her being involved with her family with the title "Busy, not loose" and finally her taking off a jacket in the gym with the title "Equal, not loose". It's pretty clear that this is a shot at Tinder and it's user base which is widely perceived preferring the hookup culture instead of serious dating culture. Tinder has stepped up its marketing campaign as well. It is telling the market that all of this serious dating stuff is for adult, and adulting can wait.
The Billion-dollar Business of Matchmaking China’s 200M Singles
FINANCIAL REVIEW – Jan 3 – Many people in China who want to get married are having trouble finding a partner. China is home to ~200M singles. The combination of freedom of choice and social pressure has become overwhelming for many. Thousands of flirt trainers, marriage brokers and love gurus are now employed in China's quest for happiness. Baihe has ~300M members and 3000 would-be matchmaker employees. The origin of a potential husband is extremely important for well-educated Chinese women, who value prestige and status: things like an apartment and a car. But even the rich struggle with love. The elite agency Diamond Love has 5M members, with the especially well-to-do paying up to $21K a month for "custom services" promising them the wife of their dreams.
US Dating Apps Woo Indian Market
FINANCIAL TIMES – Dec 30 – Bumble launched in India earlier this month, with the high-profile backing of Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra. At the same time, Tinder has rolled out new features designed to cement its foothold in the country, where it has been operating since 2015. Happn, which matches app users who have crossed paths in real life, has become one of the most downloaded dating apps since coming to India last year. Yet the companies may find Indians difficult to woo. Homegrown matchmaking services with names such as Shaadi.com and Mumbai-listed Matrimony.com, which went public last year in a $78M listing, flourished in India since long before smartphones. According to Matrimony.com almost nine in 10 marriages in India are arranged. But Matrimony.com's share price has fallen 45% over the past year, and profits in the most-recent quarter fell 30% YOY to $1.9M. The foreign apps have yet to prove that the Indian market can be lucrative. Whitney Wolfe, Bumble's CEO and founder, said: "We're entering with purpose, with mission, with a really nuanced, customised product." Far more men in India use dating apps than women, who often stay away due to safety concerns and stigma. ~85% of Happn's users in India are men. But Bumble argues its women-first brand and safety features mean it is best placed to attract female users. In September, Tinder introduced a tool that also gave Indian women the prerogative to initiate a conversation with a match.
by Benjamin Parkin
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Harmonica: How the Arabic Dating App Aims to Help Egyptians Find a ‘Life Partner’
THE NATIONAL.AE – Dec 30 – Harmonica is the only dating platform available in Arabic. "We're overwhelmed with the interest and data we've received," says Harmonica co-founder and CEO Sameh Saleh, 31, who has received 50 confirmed accounts of matches that turned into marriage proposals since the app launched in November 2017. He predicts that the actual number is at least 10 times as high. To join Harmonica, users complete a short questionnaire that resembles a first meeting with a prospective mother-in-law. After filling in a short bio and uploading a couple of pictures, the questions that follow ask users about a their degree, work, income and their religious affiliation. Users can't sign up unless they have an active Facebook account that is at least two years old. Given Harmonica's strong focus on monogamy, users are permitted to view no more than 10 potential matches a day. The plan is to expand the app regionally within the next three years.