TECH CRUNCH – Dec 14 – Bumble, the dating app that puts women in the driver's seat, has invested in gay dating app Chappy. The details were not disclosed but Bumble is the sole investor in the round and will take an equity stake. In exchange, Bumble will be offering product development and marketing support. Chappy is a gay dating app based in the UK.
by Fitz Tepper
See full article at Tech Crunch
This post also appear on InternetDatingInvestments.
ADAGE – Nov 22 – Dating app Bumble is introducing BumbleBizz, a feature that will match users with career peers and mentors. Users will upload career-related information about themselves, and the app will harness the data to find potential contacts. If two people swipe right, they can immediately begin communicating. Users will be able to switch between three profiles within Bumble – one designed for dating, one geared at making friends (BumbleBFF) and BumbleBizz. Like the dating section of the app, within BumbleBizz, women will have the power to take initiative. When a match occurs between male and female, the woman has 24 hours to start a conversation.
BUSINESS INSIDER – Nov 5 – When Tinder launched in 2012, every match felt like an adrenaline rush. But those matches are no longer quite as exciting. A 2016 study looked at the user reviews of 97 dating apps and analyzed how their quality scores have changed over the past year. Tinder experienced the largest YOY decline. In a 2016 survey by Consumers' Research, 13% of Tinder users reported relationships lasting longer than one month. Its photo-based interface probably contributed to its hookup image. Apps like Bumble, Hinge, Happn, Coffee Meets Bagel, Siren, Her are not heavily photo-based. Bumble has a similar interface as Tinder, but doesn't have the reputation of being a hookup app. That's because only women can message their matches first on Bumble. Men seem to like the app because women seem to take more initiative in starting a conversation. Siren, which launched in late 2015, abandons the swipe interface entirely. It features a daily question and a feed that displays users' answers.
by Fitz Tepper
See full article at Tech Crunch
Mark Brooks: Mobile dating apps will follow the same trajectory as Internet dating in its 1995-2005 genesis. I think we'll see a gradual shifting upwards of the mobile dating app paywalls. The mobile dating industry is getting to grips with its metrics now, and what it can afford for new member acquisition and expect for longer term ARPU. It will only get more expensive to acquire, so monetization will need to shift upwards as well.