CANADA JOURNAL – Jan 13 – Beijing Kunlun Tech, which is run by billionaire Zhou Yahui, paid $93M for a 60% controlling stake in the company – a significant sum for what is Grindr's first outside investment. Zhou Yahui, is a relatively unknown name in the tech scene but has made a $2.8B fortune through free-to-play online videogames and an extremely successful IPO on Shenzhen's ChiNext stock exchange.
Category: Grindr
Grindr Sells 60% Of Stake To Chinese Company
NYTIMES – Jan 11 – Beijing Kunlun will acquire 60% of Grindr, with the remainder to be owned by Grindr employees and Joel Simkhai, the company's founder. Grindr sees 2M regular visitors every day, who spend ~54 minutes using the app. Grindr's revenue was ~$32M in 2014, up 29% from $25M in 2013.
Dating Apps Fuel Rise In Sex Attacks
PRESS ASSOCIATION – Jan 11 – Only 55 reports of crimes in England and Wales mentioned Grindr or Tinder in 2013. This jumped to 204 in 2014 and 412 in the year to October 2015. Experts said the findings were "shocking" and urged the authorities to launch a campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of meeting strangers on so-called hook-up sites.
See full article at DailyMail.co.uk
Gay Dating App Grindr Gets $93M Investment From A Chinese Company
LATIMES – Jan 12 – Gay dating app Grindr has handed majority ownership to Chinese gaming company Beijing Kunlun World Wide Technology for $93M valuing Grindr at $248M post-investment. Grindr had been exploring a sale or fundraising round for much of last year.
by Paresh Dave
See full article at LATimes
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.
This Is The Busiest Time Of Year For Online Dating
MARKETWATCH – Jan 5 – Dating app Zoosk expects a 20% jump in users in the first two weeks of the year and eHarmony had a 21% increase in mobile registrations since the holidays. Grindr usually experiences a 30% to 50% increase in users. Match.com expects a 60% surge in new members between Christmas Day and Valentine's Day. Sign-ups on OkCupid, were up 30% this past Sunday. Many singles sit around the family dinner table during the holidays and think, "Maybe it would be better to have a partner," says Mark Brooks, a dating-industry analyst and the editor of Online Personals Watch. "That's when they start hitting dating sites in droves and go on dates before the indigestion sets in." It may also be more polite to arrange dates in the New Year rather than during the holidays, especially with family around. "They're going to be around for you long after your relationships," he says. "The trick with holiday dating is to make sure no one feels neglected."
by Quentin Fottrell
See full article at Marketwatch
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PR Consulting Took On Grindr
WWD.COM – Dec 2 – PR Consulting, a PR company that specializes in brand imaging and public relations development for the fashion, beauty, and lifestyle industries, will be representing Grindr. The relationship could appear off-brand, but according to PR Consulting's cofounders, Grindr offers an opportunity for fashion brands to reach a vast number of people.
Grindr CEO: Grindr Will Become More Of A Lifestyle Brand
GAYSTARNEWS – Dec 1 – Grindr founder, Joel Simkhai, has suggested that the app is set to morphs into a LGBT-focused lifestyle brand. Grindr was founded in 2009 with $5K of self-funding. The company now has 2M DAU. 25% of its revenue comes from ads. The rest comes from premium subscribers. To be another LGBT lifestyle brand, Grindr may gain increased sales from corporate advertisers, but it could also risk losing the brand essence that attracted such a large audience in the first place – guys connecting to meet for sex.
by David Hudson
See full article at GayStarNews
Mobile Dating Apps Spur HIV Among Asia’s Teenagers
THE GUARDIAN – Nov 30 – United Nations research has found the growing use of mobile dating apps by young gay men is a major factor in a new HIV epidemic among teenagers in Asia. While global HIV infections are falling, the number of adolescents aged 10-19 officially living with HIV in Asia has grown to ~220K. Grindr runs in-app announcements encouraging testing at local clinics. Online Buddies, the parent company of the gay dating app Jack'd, set up a research institute focusing on gay sexual health.
by Oliver Holmes
See full article at The Guardian
What It’s Like To Be The King Of Grindr
TECH INSIDER – Oct 13 – Joel Simkhai is a single, gay man living in Los Angeles, and he’s the CEO and founder of Grindr. He started Grindr out of a “selfish desire” to meet more gay men, and he’s still a very regular user of his own app.
Hookup Apps Adding PrEP As New Filter Option
NEW NOW NEXT – Oct 9 – Marchant, co-founder and chief product officer of Scruff, revealed the app's next update will allow users to filter their searches by safer-sex practices, including condoms and PrEP. And while Scruff is the first to plug PrEP into its app, Grindr has partnered with Gilead on studies and education awareness, and the app Mister says it is adding hashtag functionality that will allow users to search for profiles with #prep.
by Dan Avery
See full article at New Now Next
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