THE NEXT WEB – Mar 20 - Coffee Meets Bagel a dating site that asks a few light questions and provides a daily match (or “Bagel”) based on its members’ friends-of-friends on Facebook, has passed 640K matches. The site is now launching in Washington DC, LA and Chicago.
Category: CoffeeMeetsBagel
Location Based Apps: Women Are Overwhelmed And Creeped Out
NEW YORKER – Feb 27 – Blendr is a location-based dating apps for straight people. It was created by the same folks who made Grindr, the hookup app that has 4.5M users. The founders weren’t willing to disclose the number of Blendr users. When it comes to apps, men tend to be more willing to use location-based dating features. Women are different. Women may initiate contact less frequently, but they are comfortable reaching out first if they see a profile that appeals to them. Maybe the real failure is that no one has built an app that women want to use. On Check Him Out, women are “shoppers” and men are “products.” Only women can initiate contact, though men can “favorite” profiles. The site claims that 59% of the users are women. Women want authenticity, privacy, a more controlled environment, and a quick path to a safe, easy offline meeting. Coffee Meets Bagel, founded by three sisters, sends you a match and then sets a deadline by which you have to either “like” or “pass.” Three Day Rule caters to women who are searching for Mr. Right as opposed to Mr. Right Now. It functions as an intermediary. It shows just a few carefully selected matches at a time—bypassing the deluge problem, and saving busy professionals from scrolling through pages and pages of profiles. The site is still in beta mode and not open to the general public, and will eventually be for paying users only.
by Ann Friedman
The full article was originally published at New Yorker, but is no longer available.
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Coffee Meets Bagel To Launch In San Francisco
FORBES – Oct 25 – Coffee Meets Bagel, a dating site aimed at young people. At noon every day all the single ladies/gentlemen are sent one match based off of their Facebook connections. Then they have 24 hours to choose to go on a date or pass and wait for who will be sent tomorrow. The site is launching in the San Francisco area using $600K in funding from Lightbank (started by the Groupon founders) and Peng Ong of Match.com. In fact the entire Coffee Meets Bagel team set up a new headquarters in SF. The site first launched in New York and Boston but already has ~1K users in SF. After the SF launch CMB is looking to expand to Chicago, Seattle and LA.
Coffee Meets Bagel Lands $600K From Lightbank, Match.com Co-Founder
TECH CRUNCH – Sep 26 - Coffee Meets Bagel is a dating site that provides one match per day, every day at noon. The startup is now announcing $600K funding, led by Lightbank and including Match.com co-founder Peng T. Ong. It will be used to help Coffee Meets Bagel expand to San Francisco, where the startup recently moved its offices. The site is growing 50% month-over-month, setting up ~100K introductions which have resulted in 6K actual direct connections. 70% of users actively checking the service for matches every day. Coffee Meets Bagel is free, but it also uses a freemium model based around virtual credits to unlock the identity of mutual friends users share on Facebook.
by Darrell Etherington
See full article at Tech Crunch
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This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.
Mobile Dating Apps Grow In Popularity
WASHINGTON POST – Aug 19 – Americans now use dating apps more than online dating sites, according to a 2011 report by Flurry Analytics. Globally, the mobile dating market is expected to be worth $2.3 billion by 2016, up from $1 billion in 2011, according to Juniper Research. In June, six participants signed up for a mobile dating boot camp, organized by cyber-dating expert Julie Spira, at the iDate Mobile dating conference. They sat before a roomful of industry executives to discuss the apps they used for two weeks and provided honest feedbacks. Developers are turning to real-life concepts to woo users, like the common friend. That’s where Facebook comes in, with apps like Zoosk and Are you Interested? A new wave of apps such as Coffee Meets Bagel and Yoke focus on common friends and use Facebook profile information to match people. “You can judge a person by the company that they keep,” said Mark Brooks, analyst and consultant to the Internet dating industry. "There is no secret formula for an app to succeed", said Brooks. But “the more you can model the real world, the better you’ll do,” he said. New mobile app developers realize this and are tapping into the wealth of information available on Facebook, while trying to balance users’ privacy concerns. Spira says that just like online dating, people should apply common sense with an app.
by Amrita Jayakumar
See full article at Washington Post
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Coffee Meets Bagel: One Match Per Day, 24 Hours To Decide
MASHABLE – July 10 – On Coffee Meets Bagel on every day at noon users are sent one match, or “bagel.” Users can see that person’s picture and profile and have 24 hours to decide if they want to go on a date with them or not by clicking “yes” or “pass.” If both people answer “yes,” they go on a first date and get a daily-deal type offer for free or discounted cocktails, appetizers or other date activities. Founded by three sisters — Arum Kang, Dawoon Kang and Soo Kang. Right now, the free site’s only available in New York City and Boston.
by Kate Freeman
See full article at Mashable
Mark Brooks: Pain of loss is a big motivator. Its the key reason daily deals took off, and the key reason this site will do well.
People Are 37% More Likely To Date Friends Of Friends
TECH CRUNCH – June 29 – We’re more likely to choose mates who have Facebook friends in common with us. This comes according to a new study by Coffee Meets Bagel, a startup that shows users a suggestion of someone to date each day and connects them if they both fancy each other. People with mutual friends are 37.2% more likely to both give each other the thumbs up. Women are much more influenced by the mutual friends effect. For guys, being linked by the social graph isn’t too big of a deal. It only makes dudes give the go-ahead 10% more often.
Coffee Meets Bagel Online Dating
TECH CRUNCH – Apr 18 - Coffee Meets Bagel (CMB) has just launched in NYC. After signing in through Facebook, CMB will match users with one person every day at noon. This person isn’t just some rando, but a friend of a friend. Users have two options: like or pass. If they pass, it’s over. If they click like they will be immediately connected through a text message sent from a private company phone line. Once they’re connected, CMB will hook them up with free gifts from dating spots in NYC for their first date. The company has plans to roll the service out in four other cities by the end of the year.