TECH CRUNCH – Jan 15 – The move was made as part of a larger effort to lower expenses in many areas. News of the layoffs follows the exit of Zoosk’s founders from their leadership roles last month, and confirmation that the company was indefinitely delaying its IPO plans.
Category: Outlets – Tech Crunch
Tinder Acquires Ephemeral Messenger Tappy
TECH CRUNCH – Jan 12 - Tinder has just closed its first acquisition and purchased Chill, creators of Tappy, as part of a strategic acquihire. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Tappy, which received more than $10M in funding and pivoted out of Chill, will be shut down. Tens of thousands of users on the platform will have to find a new favorite chat app. But at Tinder, there won’t be any competition over energy or resources between two separate products.
by Jordan Crook
See full article at Tech Crunch
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.
Coffee Meets Bagel Goes Live On Android
TECH CRUNCH – Jan 7 - Coffee Meets Bagel only serves users one match per day, based on connections through Facebook or in that user’s social graph. When a match is offered, and both users say “yes”, Coffee Meets Bagel sets up a date between the two potential lovebirds at a discount. The dating service is now available on Android. It launched on iOS in August 2014 and has since seen double-digit growth month-over-month in MAUs. Founder Dawoon Kang says that engagement is ~57% monthly.
by Jordan Crook
See full article at Tech Crunch
Now Tinder Is Being Used To ID Suspected Thieves
TECH CRUNCH – Dec 23 – Stories of thieves being caught by Facebook or Twitter are nothing new. But David Petersen, co-founder of San Francisco-based startup Buildzoom, used Tinder to ID the person he claimed is responsible for stealing $30K worth of computers and gadgets from his company. He opened a Tinder account, uploaded the suspected thief’s CCTV photo alongside the words “I rob offices in SF, $5K reward for identifying me.” He received an email with her name and a photo just two days later.
Zoosk Ditches IPO Plan As Founders Exit Leadership Roles
TECH CRUNCH – Dec 17 – Zoosk's CFO Kelly Steckelberg is taking over as CEO. She will be replacing co-founder Shayan Zadeh, who is becoming a member of the board, and his co-founder Alex Mehr (currently president) will also be moving into a board position. The shift comes at a time when Zoosk is reassessing the idea of an IPO. The company filed an S-1 for a $100M IPO, but has since decided to revisit that option at a later date.
by Jordan Crook
See full article at Tech Crunch
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.
Blinq Tells Users If Their Dating Matches Are In The Bar
TECH CRUNCH – Dec 14 – Swiss startup Blinq is incorporating beacon proximity technology. Blinq's app feature called InstaConnect lets users opt in to be notified if any of their dating matches or singles that fit their criteria happen to be hanging out at the same location. The Blinq team has raised ~$500K in early funding from Swiss angel investors.
by Natasha Lomas
See full article at Tech Crunch
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.
Happn Attracts $8 Million To Roll Out Its Tinder-Like App Globally
TECH CRUNCH – Dec 11 – French dating app Happn just raised an $8M Series A round from Alven Capital and DN Capital, as well as business angels, such as Fabrice Grinda. Happn uses phone’s location to show users potential matches. Happn is now available in Paris, London, Berlin, Barcelona, Madrid and New York. Out of its user base of 1M people, 200K people use Happn every day.
by Romain Dillet
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Barry Diller: “Tinder Succeeded Because We Left Its Founders Alone”
TECH CRUNCH – Dec 4 – IAC Chairman Barry Diller talked about Tinder while onstage today at Business Insider’s Ignition conference. He did not directly address the fact that co-founder Sean Rad will step down from his role as CEO. Instead he said that leaving Tinder to the founders was key to its early success. Rad’s co-founder Justin Mateen had already been suspended from the company following a sexual harassment lawsuit from former VP of marketing Whitney Wolfe.
Bumble Is Exactly Like Tinder Except Girls Are In Charge
TECH CRUNCH – Dec 2 – Whitney Wolfe and a group of other former Tinder employees has just launched Tinder competitor called Bumble. It’s almost identical to Tinder but guys are not allowed to send the first message on Bumble. Girls must initiate the conversation with their matches, or else they disappear after 24 hours. The only control the guy has in the situation is the ability to extend one match each day for an extra 24 hours.
Former Tinder Employees To Launch Direct Competitor Called Bumble
TECH CRUNCH – Nov 24 – Whitney Wolfe, an early employee at Tinder who sued the company for sexual harassment and workplace discrimination, has joined up with two other early Tinder employees, Chris Gulczynski and his partner Sarah Mick (cofounders of YayNext), to launch a direct competitor to Tinder called Bumble. A preview video of the app shows a user making a match and chatting. The app is slated to launch on December 1.