Category: Outlets – Forbes

Looking for Love in the Metaverse

Posted on August 8, 2022

Metaverse1FORBES – VR dating is on the rise, but Match Group/Tinder pulled the plug on it's (10 month) attempt to build a metaverse dating space, and scrapped the creation of an in-app currency – as revenue growth slackened. Match previously acquired Hyperconnect, an AI & AR company that was developing a virtual romance destination called "Single Town." Now they will iterate but not invest heavily in metaverse. Meanwhile, Nevermet, Flirtual and Planet Theta are showing the different ways in which metaverse dating apps might work.

Nevermet connects VR enthusiasts, who build profiles including in-depth personal bios and avatars. Once two people match they leave Neremet to connect in a virtual world of their choosing. Flirtual sends users to VRChat after they've connected on the Flirtual app. Planet Theta launches November, and will connect matches via virtual speed dating. 1-min chats lead to 3-min coffee dates in a Planet Theta-designed cafe. After virtual coffee users see their dates' photos and can connect in Planet Theta's metaverse world, virtually sipping drinks at a bar or feeding squirrels in the enchanted forest.

by David Westenhaver
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Mark Brooks: The mind boggles. What's your thoughts on VR / AR and AI enabled Internet dating? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this Swell.

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Swiping Right On AI

Posted on May 24, 2022

Hinge most compatible picFORBES – Jennifer Flashman, Tinder's director of analytics, explained that in leveraging AI to build better user experiences, the future of dating will increasingly occur over texts and DMs rather than blind dates and phone calls. AI apps are only as good as the data behind them. AI can help recommend the perfect TV show, and it can even help us find a life partner. Hinge has a "Most Compatible" feature, which analyzes a user's preferences and sends recommendations of matches that it thinks will be a particularly good fit. Coffee Meets Bagel shares a selection of curated profiles for users to look at each day at noon via their "smart algorithm". AI could even help combat catfishing and creepy messages. Tinder's "Are You Sure?" algorithm scans messages and compares them against text that's been reported for inappropriate language in the past.

by James Freeze
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Buy Match to Exploit Apple’s Outdated Payment System

Posted on December 30, 2021

Match Group logoFORBES – A Dutch antitrust authority ruled that Apple must allow dating apps to use alternative payments or face a weekly fine of $5.6M. Investors should consider buying Match Group. A filing at the Securities and Exchange Commission in June revealed Match had 15.1M paying subscribers, up 15% from a year ago. Annualized revenue was $2.7B and profits reached $978M. Match shares closed on Thursday at $133.44. The stock trades at 72.6x forward earnings, and 13.1x sales. Market capitalization has fallen to $37.2B, following a share price decline of 11% in 2021. Shares can easily trade to $190 during the next 12 months on the Apple news alone, a gain of 42% from current levels.

by Jon Markman
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How Dating Apps Are Countering ‘FODA’ This Covid-19 Christmas

Posted on December 27, 2021

Dating generalFORBES – "With the vaccines and other changes in the pandemic, people want to get back out there and date," said Logan Ury, director of relationship science at Hinge, citing her research into 2021 dating trends. "But we also understood that more than half of singles have FODA." "FODA," Ury explained, "is fear of dating again." "People need love. People need connection," said Wolfe Herd in her CNBC interview. "That does not go away, irrespective of the changing landscape of this pandemic so our business remains largely unaffected during this new wave." Bumble adapted during the pandemic using video and voice. Hinge has adopted this tech, too, but not with a nod to its competition. Its team said they found inspiration in Clubhouse and added voice to users' profiles.

by Dawn Ennis
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Bumble Cofounder Whitney Wolfe Herd No Longer a Billionaire as Shares Plunge

Posted on December 2, 2021

Bumble Whitney Wolfe HerdFORBES – A steep drop in Bumble shares since the dating app owner's quarterly earnings call on Nov 10 has knocked the fortune of CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd – previously the world's youngest self-made woman billionaire – below $1B, Forbes calculates. The 32-year-old Wolfe Herd was worth ~$940M at Monday's closing price of $35.03 per share. Her net worth has fallen by ~$200M since Q3 earnings were released three weeks ago, as Bumble stock has tumbled by 26%. Wolfe Herd has a 21% stake in the company. Bumble is far from the only company to struggle after its IPO. An analysis published Sunday by the Financial Times found half of the companies that raised $1 billion at IPOs this year are trading below their listing prices.

by Jemima McAvoy
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Bumble Founder Whitney Wolfe Herd Is Looking Ahead ‘Decades Not Days’

Posted on October 13, 2021

Bumble Whitney Wolfe HerdFORBES – After a $2.2B IPO last February, Bumble dating app founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd is operating "business as usual". Shares on the Nasdaq sagged to $40 in the summer after debuting at $76. "I'm not obsessed with the stock," she said, "I'm obsessed with the customer, the team, the innovation we're planning for the future." "If you're trying to get to that next milestone, don't focus on the short-term. Stay married to the long-term vision," Wolfe Herd told the audience of Forbes 30 Under 30 list honorees.

by Katherine Love
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How Advances in Technology and Science Could Impact the Dating and Matchmaking Industry

Posted on August 6, 2021

Dating appsFORBES – Aug 5 – The art and science of matchmaking is a billion-dollar industry. Yet, many pitfalls exist such as safety, security and ineffective matching methods. These issues aren't as prevalent with professional matchmakers, however, not every singleton can afford to pay $15K and $150K for a high-end matchmaking service. This exposes a huge opening in the industry for dating apps and professional matchmakers to merge. How realistic is this, and what kind of technology or science can help achieve this idealistic goal?

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.

by Taylor Wade
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Ateam Dating App Is Intersecting Wellness and Dating

Posted on June 21, 2021

Ateam logoFORBES – June 21 – A couple who met during the pandemic, and are now engaged with a baby on the way, were tired of dating app culture. Both of them valued activities like yoga, meditation or sweaty workout but they would always end up on dates where it only involved late night cocktails and small talk. Dan Ilani and Megan Baldwin founded ateam, a new membership-based dating and networking app for people who are passionate about health, wellness and fitness. The name ateam comes from the belief that the best relationships in life function as "a team" and is driven by the motto that fitness is a mindset, not a body shape, look or size. The ateam has partnerships with 30 boutique fitness studios across the US. Members will have access to weekly drops of free group classes, members-only events, and opportunities to socialize.

by Yola Robert
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S’More: “Tinder-fication” of Online Dating Is Over

Posted on May 26, 2021

Smore logoFORBES – May 26 – New data gathered by the dating app company S'More suggests that putting chemistry ahead of "hotness" and relationships over casual encounters may become the new norm in online dating, and some of the biggest players in the industry are getting in on the trend. S'More survey found that physical attraction was no longer rated as the most important factor when searching for a potential match. "Covid-19 certainly changed the equation," says CEO Cohen-Aslatei. "But beyond that, our data shows that people are starting to expect more from dating apps. They want real connections, not the fake photos and hyper-sexualization that has characterized so much of online dating over the past decade." S'More has developed a suite of features aimed to reduce the superficiality of online dating, and slow down the process. For one, users aren't able to view a clear photo of a potential match until they have had a meaningful conversation with that person. S'More is not alone in its effort. Tinder and Bumble recently added games to their video product, MeetMe added blurred video dating, and Chispa, a Match Group app for Latino and Latina singles, connects daters based on answers to trivia games. MuzMatch, a Muslim-focused dating app, also lets women keep their profiles blurred from men.

by Mark Travers
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Dating App Snack Is Disrupting the Dating Industry With Gen-Z in Mind

Posted on May 18, 2021

Snack kim kaplan linkedinFORBES – May 18 – It was a TikTok video that gave Kimberly Kaplan the lightbulb moment she needed to inspire her to create a video-first dating app. Snack looks to merge the popularity and format of TikTok with the dating world. Kaplan wants to build an easy way for people to flirt, have fun, and actually see inside a dating prospect's real life.

Q: Where does the name Snack come from?
A: It was actually a couple of Gen-Zers who came up with the name. They also came up with the logo.

Q: What obstacles did you face as you were building Snack?
A: Dating is a really tough industry to break into. But as soon as I started to talk to investors about the idea, they immediately saw the opportunity. I approached investors and fundraised all virtually. It was over Zoom. It was way less intimidating than the experience when you're walking into their boardroom, where they hold the power and you're in their domain.

Q: How does the app work and how is it different from others?
A: You sign up like a typical dating app but instead of you moving over to a messaging screen, you can just scroll through videos of your matches in your feed.

Q: What was the timeline from concept to launch?
A: I was about to start fundraising in March of last year and then Covid hit. Markets tanked, VCs were trying to think about their companies. No one was fundraising, so I paused. In August, I started putting everything back together, and after about three weeks of pitching, I had multiple term sheets.

Q: What advice would you give to others starting their own business?
A: Great ideas disrupt the best laid plans. If you have a really great idea, don't be afraid to go for it.

by Amy Shoenthal
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