TECH CRUNCH – Jan 10 – Bumble is releasing BumbleVID, a feature which will allow users to record 10-second videos directly within Bumble, which will disappear after 24 hours. Users can also add pre-recorded videos, but only ones taken in the last 24 hours.
Category: Outlets – Tech Crunch
Comic Stroy Moyd Turned His Uber Prius Into Speed Dating Venue
TECH CRUNCH – Dec 31 – For years, Oakland-based stand-up comic Stroy Moyd has been driving for Uber and Lyft part-time to generate supplemental income. In a video clip he self-produced and called "Rideshare the Love," Moyd set up singles for a speed date, while driving them to their destinations. He arranged the dates by putting out word to his personal network and mailing list of fans, and through the occasional Craigslist ad.
Bumble Vs Tinder
TECH CRUNCH – Jan 3 – Now that Bumble is just about two years ago, we can start looking back and comparing it to where Tinder was at its two year birthday. Back in 2014 Tinder was expanding beyond college campuses and set on becoming dating app for all. Two years in the company was seeing a billion swipes a day, and matching ~12M people a day. On average, active users were spending ~90 minutes per day in the app. Bumble, on the other hand, reported that just 18 months after inception users were spending ~100 minutes a day in the app. And two years after launching, the company is matching ~4M people a day and seeing ~220M swipes per day. Swipe-based dating apps are much more common than they were two years ago. There is much more competition, and when Tinder was young it was one of the only app-based dating platforms in the space.
by Fitz Tepper
See full article at Tech Crunch
Coffee Meets Bagel Is Launching New Apps – DateSpots.co And Mixtape
TECH CRUNCH – Coffee Meets Bagel, the dating app that shows you one match per day, has build new apps with the help of Yelp and Spotify. The first app is called DateSpots.co and it lets people search for the perfect spot for a first date. The second one is Mixtape. Using Spotify's public API, Mixtape lets users build out collaborative playlists with their dates.
by Jordan Crook
See full article at Tech Crunch
Q&A With Justin Mateen, Founder Of Tinder, About How To Grow Your App
TECH CRUNCH – Dec 27 - The app ecosystem is strong and growing. By 2020, App Store consumer spend is supposed to exceed $100B (App Annie). Mobile now represents 65% of digital media time; 86% of this time on phones is spent in apps (AdWeek).
Q: How did you start Tinder?
A: With Tinder, we fundamentally solved a basic human need that had been ignored. Dating apps specifically had a stigma, and were focused exclusively on paid acquisition which didn't really create the same community an organic user base provides.
Q: How'd you get the right users, organically?
A: We went after the hardest users; users that seem like they don't have a need for the product. These can either be your worst critics or your greatest evangelists. For us, that was college students.
Q: How about paid ads?
A: Paid ads can be worth it, but your ads have to be subtle, unintrusive and organic: Your eyes are trained to ignore banner ads. They feel impersonal and coercive. Nobody likes to be forced to do anything.
Final lesson from the Q&A with Justin, was just how important retention is. "No amount of growth can replace solid retention. You're shooting yourself in the foot if you're focusing too much on growth when you should be focusing on product."
by Jesse Michels & Sunil Rayan
See full article at Tech Crunch
Bumble Invests In Gay Dating App Chappy
TECH CRUNCH – Dec 14 – Bumble, the dating app that puts women in the driver's seat, has invested in gay dating app Chappy. The details were not disclosed but Bumble is the sole investor in the round and will take an equity stake. In exchange, Bumble will be offering product development and marketing support. Chappy is a gay dating app based in the UK.
by Fitz Tepper
See full article at Tech Crunch
This post also appear on InternetDatingInvestments.
Tinder Boost Goes Live Worldwide
TECH CRUNCH – Oct 19 – Tinder started testing the feature in late September in Australia, and has finally decided to let it loose across Tinder's global community. Tinder Boost lets users pay $1.99 – $3.99 to have their profile bumped to the front of the feed for 30 minutes.
The New “Serious Relationship” Hinge Costs $7/Month
Bumble Will Let Users Get Verified
Hinge Will Focus On Serious Relationships
TECH CRUNCH – Sep 27 – Dating app Hinge is launching an entirely new version of the app that will focus on serious relationships. The new app, built from the ground up, will go live on October 11, and it will be a paid app for all users. Hinge is ditching its old app and also the swipe feature.