BLOOMBERG LAW – Spark Networks Services GmbH, which operates platforms like Christian Mingle, JDate, and Zoosk, has filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy in the United States to have its German insolvency proceedings recognized. The filing follows a failed restructuring attempt in 2024 and the withdrawal of funding by its main lender, MGG Investment Group. The company intends to sell its assets while continuing to operate during the process.
AVAST BLOG – June 3 – Match Group says that they don't share users' information between sites unless they ask them to, but they also say in their privacy policy that they might share that info for "limited and critical purposes, including for corporate audit, analysis and consolidated reporting, to comply with applicable law, and help keep our users safe." According to the Bumble Privacy Policy, they don't "sell" user data, according to the legal definition of "sell," but they do share demographic data and location with third party advertisers. They also share non-personal data with third parties for "research and analysis." So what happens to all that data when users leave? Unfortunately, the answer isn't so clear, especially for Match Group. But if someone deletes Grindr account, Grindr expunges everything they have about them after seven days. Spark Networks – the owner of Jdate and ChristianMingle – is based in Germany, which means they're subject to the GDPR. They are legally obligated to delete it. Bumble promises to delete users' data starting 28 days after they deactivate it. They say that they retain any information they might need for legal purposes.
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PRESS RELEASE – Aug 27 – Spark Networks, the parent of Zoosk, EliteSingles, Jdate, Christian Mingle, eDarling, JSwipe, and SilverSingles, reported H1 2020 revenue of €103.4, an increase of €54.2M from €49.2M in the H1 of 2019. The increase is primarily attributable to the integration of Zoosk following the Spark Networks / Zoosk Merger in July 2019. Net Loss was €0.4M, an improvement of €4.5M compared to Net Loss of €4.9M in the H1 of 2019. Average paying subscribers increased to 915K in the H1 of 2020, compared to 445K in the same period of 2019.
PATCH.COM – Oct 15 – Spark Networks USA, LLC, the parent company of niche dating sites Jdate and Christian Mingle, will pay $500K in penalties and up to $985K in restitution to customers whose subscriptions automatically renewed or whose refunds were denied when they requested them. Spark's dating sites were automatically renewing customer payments, without their express prior consent as required by federal and state law, among other alleged violations of law.
by Emily Holland
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PR NEWSWIRE – Aug 30 – For the six months ended June 30, 2018, total revenue was €53M, an increase of ~26% YOY. The growth was attributable to the 34% increase in the number of average paying subscribers. Spark contributed 91.3% of the YOY revenue increase through the addition of Jdate, JSwipe and Christian Mingle following the close of the Affinitas / Spark Merger in Nov 2017. "Our growth strategy remains focused on EliteSingles, Jdate, JSwipe and Christian Mingle, and the recently launched SilverSingles brand," said Jeronimo Folgueira, CEO of Spark Networks SE. Net Loss was €(1.1)M, a €557K reduction compared to the H1 2017.
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CHRISTIANTODAY – May 24 – Christian Mingle already has an established presence in the UK, Canada, Australia and the US. The platform will go live across several countries in Europe this summer: it began a presence in France, Germany and Spain on March 13, and Russia, Poland and other countries are set to follow soon. The site is part of Spark Networks SE which owns several other dating brands such as JSwipe and Jdate, and the Mormon site LDSSingles.
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SEEKING ALPHA – Apr 25 – Spark Networks full year revenue increased 16.5% to €85.6M due to the 20% growth in paying subscribers as well as marketing efforts in North America and the Affinitas-Spark merger in Nov 2017. For the full year 2017 adjusted EBITDA was €6.6M, a YOY increase from €5.9M. It includes €509K of post merger adjusted EBITDA from Spark. The company ended the year with ~465K paying subscribers. (158K in North America and 307K international). Here a few key points from Spark Networks earning call:
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SPARK.NET – Apr 24 – Jdate and Christian Mingle have both expanded services, languages, and local market support throughout Europe. Originally available in English, Hebrew and French, Jdate is now also available in German and Spanish. Christian Mingle is now available in French, German and Spanish, in addition to English. Both Jdate and Christian Mingle will be rolling out Russian and Polish language and local support in the coming months.
ACCESSWIRE – May 2 – German dating company Affinitas, which operates premium online dating platforms EliteSingles, eDarling and Attractive World, is merging with Spark Networks. The newly formed company will be named Spark Networks SE and will be headquartered in Berlin, and maintain a significant U.S. presence with offices in New York City and Lehi, Utah. The combination will create a company with ~$115M of pro forma combined revenue over the twelve months. EliteSingles shareholders will own ~75% of Spark Networks SE and Spark shareholders will own 25%. Jeronimo Folgueira, CEO of EliteSingles, will serve as CEO and Robert O'Hare, Spark's CFO, will continue in that role with the combined company. Michael Schrezenmaier, Managing Director of EliteSingles, will become COO. The Board of Directors will be comprised of seven directors, including three to be selected by EliteSingles, one to be selected by Spark, and three to be mutually agreed upon by EliteSingles and Spark.
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PRESS RELEASE – Mar 21 – Spark Networks Q4 revenue was $7.7M, a YOY decrease of 28%. Q4 2016 net loss was $3.7M. For the full year 2016, total revenue was $35M, a decrease of 27% compared to the year ago period. The YOY decrease was primarily driven by 10.3% and 13.4% decreases in average paying subscribers for the Jewish and Christian Networks segments, respectively. CEO Danny Rosenthal commented: "We expect 2017 will be a transformational year for Spark. Our priorities are clear: operating profitably, relaunching our technology platform and driving future growth through effective marketing investments. Importantly, we are on track to deliver our new technology platform and re-launch JDate in Q2 and Christian Mingle in Q3."