MANCHESTER WORLD – Chapter 2 Dating Ltd, founded by Nicky Wake, has acquired the M14 white-label dating and social app platform, which powers its apps Soberlove, Chapter 2 Dating, and Widows Fire. M14 was created by John Kershaw in 2017 and acquired by Steve Pammenter in 2022. Following the sale, Pammenter will focus on growing Gaydar and developing Highlife Media.
See full article at Manchester World
THE BAY AREA REPORTER – In 1993, Andy Cramer, the CEO of Caregiving Network, founded Gay.Net, one of the earliest platforms for gay men, especially during the HIV/AIDS crisis. This bulletin board system (BBS) later merged with Gay.com, reaching 4M users by 1999. Back in 1987, Jean Marie Diaz in the U.S. established Sappho, a hub for lesbian email lists. Amy Goodloe further expanded the online lesbian community with lesbian.org in the mid-1990s. In 1999, Gary Frisch and Henry Badenhorst introduced Gaydar, offering chat rooms for queer men. OkCupid launched in 2004 and, while not exclusively LGBTQ+, became popular within the queer community. By 2021, it had broadened its gender and sexual orientation identifiers to 60, collaborating with organizations like the Human Rights Campaign and GLAAD. Joel Simkhai launched Grindr in 2009, the first geolocation dating app specifically for gay men, later expanding its offerings and user base. After leaving Grindr, Simkhai founded Motto, a dating app that aimed to counter "toxicity and discrimination" in some queer dating platforms. In 2015, Robyn Exton established HER, originally known as Dattch, as a platform for the "FLINTA (female, lesbian, intersex, trans, and agender) community," focusing on both dating and community aspects. Tser stands as a dating app for the transgender community, presenting itself as both a dating platform and social community for trans individuals and allies.
BUZZFEED – Nov 12 – Henry Badenhorst, the co-founder of Gaydar dating website, has died after falling from a tower block in South Africa. It is understood he killed himself. Along with Gary Frisch, his business and romantic partner, Badenhorst founded Gaydar in Nov 1999. Frisch died in 2007 – he also fell to his death from the balcony of a building. Badenhorst described the loss of Frisch as the worst day of his life and according to friends he never fully recovered from it. The couple dreamed up the website after a single gay friend of theirs had been complaining about how hard it was to find a boyfriend on existing online dating sites. At the peak of Gaydar's success, it had ~5M subscribers.
PINKNEWS – May 17 – British TV producer Charlie Parsons, who created Channel 4’s The Big Breakfast and The Word, has added Gaydar.co.uk to his business portfolio. QSoft Consulting, the former owner of dating site Gaydar.co.uk, announced in May 2012 it was seeking a “significant cash investment” to fund its “ambition for global growth”. Gaydar founder Henry Badenhorst has left the company and the new management team, led by Trevor Martin, will include Charlie Parsons and Mark Speeks who will both join the Gaydar board of directors with immediate effect.
by Scott Roberts
The full article was originally published at Pink News, but is no longer available.
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.
GAYSTARNEWS – May 3 – Gaydar responds to strong competition in gay men’s smartphone dating market with release of new service and promises changes to Gaydar Girls soon. The new mobile site brings ‘find a guy near you’ features without app restrictions – so users have greater freedom on the kinds of pictures they upload, and it works on all devices. The new mobile web service uses the same database as the desktop version.
GAYSTARNEWS – Jan 7 – Just days after closing its radio station, Gaydar pulls out of the nightlife business. Profile and Lo Profile, in the heart of the British capital’s gay district on Wardour Street, will shut today (7 January). They said that was so they could focus on their core digital dating brands – Gaydar and Gaydar Girls.
GAYDAR BLOG – Aug 28 – Here are the winning vouchers collected from Gaydar during the Manchester Pride.
To claim your prize, scan or take a photo of your voucher and email to craig.mccormack@qsoft.co.uk along with your contact.
The full article was originally published at Gaydar Blog, but is no longer available.
PINK NEWS – Apr 3 – A poll released by Gaydar today says a fifth of its users are planning to become someone’s civil partner in the next year. 60% said they would wear an engagement ring, presumably consistently. 45% would like a religious ceremony and 48% intend to walk up an aisle at their civil partnership.
PINK NEWS – Mar 1 – 31,714 Gaydar members in the UK have opted in for the Sexual Health Messaging Service in the three months since it launched on 29 Nov last year. The messages are also available on Fitlads, Recon and Manhunt. The Sexual Health Messaging Service, sometimes referred to as Partner Notification, is funded by a grant from the Elton John AIDS Foundation. Men diagnosed at a participating clinic can be given a unique code for use on the website. There, contact information for recent partners can be typed in: mobile phone numbers, email or a profile name from a participating dating website. They are then sent an automated message, alerting them to the fact that they should get themselves checked out. The messages can be anonymous, but backers say recipients are more likely to take action if the sender is identified.