Category: Hinge
How Advances in Technology and Science Could Impact the Dating and Matchmaking Industry
Blockchain Technology
Companies such as Hicky and Viola have both implemented blockchain to increase transparency by requiring users to validate their identity via face and voice recognition, which is then fully encrypted and stored into the blockchain.
Artificial Intelligence
AI can help gather in-app user behavior data for machine learning algorithms to curate more relevant matches based on its users' core values, beliefs and personality traits. Coffee Meets Bagel, Hinge, Tinder and Badoo all now use AI .
Augmented Reality
AR can be described as a visual or audio overlay of digital life on real life, distinct from the purely digital landscape of virtual reality (VR).
DNA Matchmaking
DNA Romance is a dating app that matches partners based on the information hidden in their DNA to forecast romantic chemistry. Dr. Tim Sexton built the app on the basis that partners with opposite immune system genes (MHC genes) have much higher romantic chemistry.
Google Searches for ‘Dating’ Have Reached a 5-Year High
NPR – July 20 – Google tweeted last week that search interest in dating had reached a 5-year high in the U.S. "How to date" was the most searched in Washington, D.C., last week, Google says. According to Dana Balch, a spokesperson for Tinder, the app has seen some of its highest swiping days this year. Searches for "top dating apps 2021" boomed over the past month, jumping 3,400%. According to App Annie, Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge are all currently in the top 50 grossing apps on iPhones.
by Josie Fischels
See full article at NPR
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Hinge Promotes Michelle Parsons to Chief Product Officer
PR NEWSWIRE – July 8 – Hinge has promoted Michelle Parsons to Chief Product Officer. Michelle will focus on both enhancing the user experience through product innovations and developing internal systems that will help scale product development. Tim MacGougan, Hinge's current CPO, is stepping into the newly-created Chief Design Officer role as the company doubles down on its goal to have the most effective app design.
A Date With Hinge’s Justin McLeod to Talk Tinder, VC Letdowns and Selling Out
SIFTED.EU – July 7 – Hinge is now dubbed the 'relationship app'. It currently ranks among the top three most downloaded dating apps across the US, Australia and the UK, and has rolled out a freemium model. The app launched in Feb 2013, quickly pivoting from desktop to mobile. Users didn't get it. Investors didn't get it. Funding proved a constant struggle for McLeod, and it would be three years until he could lure institutional money. "We really struggled for a long time to get investment… until Tinder started to take off. Hinge raked in $20M in those early years. Yet by 2016, when McLeod began raising his Series B, VCs had gone cold again. Part of the problem was Hinge had stalled. The app had gone dormant a year earlier as part of a reboot to move it away from swiping into serious matchmaking. "I was begging [VCs]… I was offering valuations that were embarrassingly low. I went everywhere trying to make this deal happen." It was a buyout that would eventually come to his rescue. In 2018, McLeod accepted Match.com's offer for a complete takeover. "I didn't really have a choice," McLeod admits. "In order for us to compete, we needed to raise a lot more money… There was kinda no other option than to find a strategic buyer like Match."
Dating App Hinge Celebrates Singles ‘Breaking up’ With the App
by Paige Murphy
See full article at Adnews
Hinge CEO on Overcoming Addiction and Building a Multimillion-dollar Dating App
CNBC – July 7 – Justin McLeod, co-founder and CEO of Hinge, originally created the dating app "to solve my own problem." But after launch, it wasn't working; users weren't finding lasting relationships. Since McLeod was actively using the app himself, he saw its issues firsthand and decided to pivot. McLeod and his team completely rebooted the company in 2015 and again in 2016 – by 2015, Hinge had raised $26M, and Hinge burned through most of its funds. Rather than focusing on growth, engagement and users' time on the app, Hinge started to prioritize getting users on dates. The company created Hinge Labs to help users navigate their relationships beyond their initial match. That year, Hinge had an estimated valuation of $75.5M, after raising $17.5M in a Series A seed round led by Shasta Ventures. In 2019, Match Group announced that it fully acquired Hinge for an undisclosed amount.
It’s 2021, Why Are Dating App Algorithms Still so Bad?
by Emma Hughes
See full article at Wired
Mark Brooks: The science of compatibility profiling and matchmaking is entirely, still, a virgin science. Until we open up our databases to academics and data scientists to do proper experimentation, we will continue to clutch at straws when it comes to really provide more than marginal improvements to long term matchmaking. However, there's a LOT of value in just getting showstopper questions out of the way right upfront. i.e. sexuality preferences, marriage status, marriage-minded?, want kids?, got kids? etc.
Top Dating Trends After Lockdown
Hinge & Uber Team up to Help Single Dog-owners
BODY & SOUL – June 9 – Beginning today until June 21, the first 5k matched Hinge couples in Australian cities where Uber Pet is available will be eligible for a 50% 'Uber Pet' discount code. 69% of Aussie Hinge users say they're more drawn to dog owners. It's considered a priority that your fluffy mate and your future mate get along. "Nobody ever wants to be in a position to choose between a partner and a pet so exploring how a date interacts and feels about your furry housemate early on is valuable," says Dr. Kate Adams, Vet and Hinge puppy chemistry expert. 61% of Aussie Hinge users think someone's choice in pets says a lot about their personality.
by Sophie Goulopoulos
See full article at Body & Soul