by Yon Heong Tung
See full article at Yahoo! News Singapore
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.
Category: Paktor
Paktor Secures $10m Series C Funding Led By YJ Capital
DEAL STREET ASIA – July 11 – The round, led by the corporate venture capital arm of Yahoo Japan, with participation from Global Grand Leisure, Golden Equator Capital and Sebrina Holdings Venture Capital, will be used to fuel its expansion into North Asia, – Japan and South Korea – as well as expand sales & marketing activities in Indonesia, in addition to meeting rapidly increasing demand for its O2O services in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan and Korea. With this round, the firm has raised in excess of $20.5 million to date.
by Shiwen Yap
See full article at Deal Street Asia
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.
Asian Paktor Acquired Latin American Dating App Kickoff
PRESS RELEASE – May 31 – Kickoff, the Latin American dating app which connects friends of friends, has been acquired by Paktor, the mobile dating and social networking brand for singles in Southeast Asia and Taiwan. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The full article was originally published at Kickoff website, but is no longer available.
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This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.
Paktor Secures Funding From Indonesia’s MNC
TECHINASIA – Mar 8 – Paktor, Southeast Asia's version of Tinder, raised an undisclosed amount of funding from one of Indonesia's biggest conglomerates, MNC Media. The funding is part of a larger investment round the app is about to close. Prior to this round, Paktor had raised $12M in funding.
by Judith Balea
See full article at TechInAsia
This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.
Fierce Competition Between Dating Apps In Asia
SEA GLOBE – Feb 24 – Southeast Asian users have caught on to the mobile dating trend, with local dating apps – such as Thailand-based Noonswoon, Peekawoo in the Philippines, Indonesia's Wavoo and Singapore's LunchClick. Paktor is one of Asian's biggest dating apps, boasting 6M users in six key Asian markets. Competition is fierce. Paktor is the only dating app out of 13 that entered the Southeast Asian market at the same time that is still standing. Capturing market share in Southeast Asia involves understanding the social norms of each country. While most of Paktor's advertising in Singapore appears online, regional marketing director Shn Juay says the company adopted a different tack in Indonesia. "We go into university campuses and identify people who could be influencers. We let them try the app, and then share it through word of mouth."
Paktor – The Mobile-dating App Designed For Singles In Asia
CNBC – Feb 19 – Paktor is a Singapore-based mobile-dating app, similar to Tinder, except that it has some Asia-specific tweaks. Asians prefer to first meet fellow users in groups, rather than a more intimate one-on-one date. A feature on Paktor are the group chats based on common interests or careers. The app also has several language settings including Tagalog, Korea, Thai, Japanese, Melayu and Bahasa Indonesia. The app also has a offline date-guarantee program for premium subscribers.
Dating App Paktor Is Taking On Tinder In Southeast Asia
INC – Feb 12 – With 6M users across Asian markets, Paktor is the biggest dating app in the region. It raised $7.1M in its Series B funding round this year. Paktor works like Tinder but the premium features allow users to also filter by occupation and education. Paktor says their research shows this is what matters to their users. Users are spending ~13 hours a month on the app, returning six times daily on average.
by Kirsten Han
The full article was originally published at INC, but is no longer available.
Swipe Right On 50 Profiles, Respond To Every Message And You Get A Date, Guarantees Paktor
PAKTOR – Jan 11 - Singapore's largest mobile dating and social networking app, Paktor announced an industry-first guarantee programme called the 'Paktor Guarantee Programme' (PGP). The programme, which comes at no additional cost, guarantees Paktor users a physical date through the app if they follow specific guidelines. The PGP is available to users who have a paid subscription of a minimum of 3 months on the app. Here are the guidelines:
- Use Paktor App everyday
- Swipe right on 50 profiles every dayInitiate first contact with every match
- Respond to every message
- Ask for a date after 20 exchanges of message
- Don't use other channels of communication until the other party has agreed to go on a physical date
Paktor Looks To Go Global, Hires VP Of Marketing
by Rezwana Manjur
See full article at Marketing Interactive
Summarized by
Joseph Phua, CEO And Co-Founder Of Paktor Interview
What is your founding story?
When I was in the US, I became single after a long-term relationship, which lasted ~8 years. I saw a lot of people having success using dating websites so I gave it a shot. It worked for me. When I returned to Singapore, I started Paktor. Going mobile was the most compelling option due to its scalability and the increasing smartphone penetration in Southeast Asia.
How is Paktor different and better than Tinder?
International players have struggled in South East Asia for multiple reasons. Sometimes it is due to the fragmented nature of the region that has multiple languages and cultures that hinders them. At Paktor, we think global and act local. Our approach is tailored to an Asian market, because we know what works for each individual market. Paktor is also the first dating app to offer a premium offline one-on-one matchmaking service and social dating events, called GaiGai (走街).
You raised a $7.4m series B round in July. How are you spending it?
Expansion remains our top priority. The funds will be used to aggressively grow the brand in existing markets that include Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Taiwan. We would like to also expand into new Asian markets. The Paktor team has also grown to 50 team members, up from 15 during its Series-A round 6 months ago. Part of the investment will also be channelled to product development, adding further value for users.
How would you define 'social discovery'?
Social discovery is the serendipitous experience of developing new connections aided by algorithms on social platforms. To me, it means the facilitation of an introduction between two strangers and the ability to meet new people beyond one's existing social circles. Paktor facilitates social discovery in many different ways. For example, we have a wide database of people to meet regardless of whether they are in your immediate vicinity or further away. It also helps you by filtering who you would want to meet by interest, height, distance from you etc. These features increase the likelihood of you meeting someone with whom you may share similar interests and sets the stage for the relationship to grow further and in an organic and genuine way.
What is the future of social discovery?
I see social discovery developing in two ways. Firstly, the increased vastness of the playground to explore and discover. Secondly, the refinement of the discovery process. This means better algorithms and data to help people discover new people.
What is your goal for Paktor for 2016?
Our 2016 goal is focused on rapid growth to become the leading mobile social network beyond the Southeast Asian region.