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.
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NPR.ORG – July 11 – Since the EU referendum a year ago, people have started posting how they voted (Leave or Remain) on their dating profiles on Tinder, OKCupid and Match.com. M14 Industries, an app development company based in Manchester, spotted a market. Better Together Dating, or BTD, is a dating app that bills itself as "Tinder for the 48%." That's the proportion of British voters who chose Remain in last year's EU referendum. The app was online within days of last year's referendum. Along the same lines, another team is crowdfunding to create a dating app called Remainder. "We're trying to provide a little comfort for these heartbroken voters," its website says. But so far there's no app.
TECH CRUNCH – Mar 7 – M14 Industries was pitching its dating and social app-building platform for an investment of £80k for 15% equity. The M14 founder chose to accept a combined offer from Jenkins and Jones of £80k for 20% equity, giving the young startup a £400k pre-money valuation. Later, M14 was approached by one of its larger clients who had learned that the startup was preparing to take more investment and asked if they could be part of the deal. The unnamed client was willing to invest at a £1.5M pre-valuation, up significantly from the Dragons' Den £400k valuation. But agreeing to 20% in the Den, then closing at 6% a few months later, would cause trouble down the line for the show, and possibly lead to people not taking future deals in the Den seriously. So the deal collapsed. In a final, and perhaps, ironic twist of fate, the unnamed investor would also go on to pull out of the deal in favour of simply remaining a customer. However, M14 Industries closed ∼ £100k with other investors, at a far better valuation, the fonders say.
by Steve O'Hear
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BQLIVE.CO.UK – Feb 20 – Peter Jones and Nick Jenkins secured a 'yes' from John Kershaw for an £80k investment, representing a 20% stake in software firm M14 Industries, the makers of niche dating app software powering solutions like Bristlr and Spex. One by one, each of the Dragons fell for John and his bearded charms, and made him five offers. So many offers, that he had to borrow a pen and paper from the Dragons to do some sums to make his decision. In the end, it was the combination of Nick Jenkins and Peter Jones who John felt offered the most to his business, and he was happy to shake their hands. Bristlr is a niche dating app that connects people with beards with people who like beards. The site claims ~170k users. Spex connects people who wear glasses.
by Suzy Jackson
See full article at BQLive.co.uk
Mark Brooks: M14's appearance on Dragon's Den is available now on the BBC iPlayer at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08gdflb.
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BQ – Nov 22 – M14 Industries, the white label platform used to power niche dating apps, has acquired London-based dating platform Double, which shot to fame in 2015 after a successful Dragon's Den appearance. Double is a dating app which encourages users to find a friend, and look for double dates. The app has secured a £75k investment from Moonpig founder Nick Jenkins on the BBC show Dragon's Den in 2015. Under the terms of this deal, the value of which is undisclosed, the Double founders will exit the business.
by Suzy Jackson
See full article at BQ
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PRESS RELEASE – Nov 17 – Scamalytics is partnering with M14 Industries, a white label dating provider. Scamalytics' technology incorporates machine learning, real time detection, text pattern analysis and image recognition to eliminate scammers from dating sites. This combined data has also enabled them to create the industry's largest shared scammer database. Scamalytics also work with Global Personals, Cupidmedia and Dating Factory.
CHRONICLE LIVE – May 6 – Thinking Digital founder Herb Kim has made his first angel investment, contributing to a six-figure funding at a start-up dating app company – M14. M14 allows users to set up and run their own dating or social apps. M14 is already responsible for Bristlr, a niche dating site for beard lovers. Others to invest in the funding round included Friends Reunited founder Steve Pankhurst; former match.com managing directors Jason Stockwood and Sam Bedford; Doug Scott from PotentialVC; and IXIS founder Chris Haslam.
by Robert Gibson
See full article at Chronicle Live
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