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Category: Reporters – Daniel Latu

New Dating Apps Betting on Matchmaking

Posted on November 28, 2024

Cheers logoBUSINESS INSIDER – Several new "matchmaking" dating apps have launched in the past year, addressing dating-app fatigue. Sitch is an AI matchmaking app launched in New York in November. Cheers is an app that lets friends play matchmaker in a social-media feed, launched in October. Facebook Dating even launched a matchmaking feature last month. Tinder's cofounder and former CEO, Sean Rad, said on a September episode of the 20VC podcast that he had always imagined the dating app moving beyond swiping and into matchmaking. In 2017, Hinge launched a stand-alone app called Matchmaker that lets friends swipe for each other. It appears to have since shut down. Tinder, also owned by Match Group, launched a similar feature in 2023.

Loop is a matchmaking app where everyone can set up their single friends. Only a third of the user base are singles; the rest are friends and family members or even professional or hobbyist matchmakers. Loop launched in 2023 and is currently free for all users.

Arrange should launch in December and will let users link their profiles with a "scout," a trusted friend or family member, who can talk with potential matches ahead of time and vet for compatibility.

Amori is a dating-advice app with characters users can chat with, is experimenting with matchmaking using a personal assistant (though it isn't live within the app yet).

by Sydney Bradley & Daniel Latu
See full article at Business Insider

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Match Shares Tumble, Signaling an Opening for Dating Startups

Posted on November 11, 2024

Dating apps many on screenBUSINESS INSIDER – Match and Bumble stocks wavered. Tinder expects another drop in paying users in Q4. A 2024 Forbes Health survey reported 78% of Americans felt exhausted by dating apps. Match Group shares dropped 18% Thursday after Tinder paying users fell 4% to 9.9m in Q3. Hinge Q3 revenue grew 36%. Bumble saw 10% paying user growth to 2.9m. ARPU dropped 10%. Revenue was flat, dropping 0.7% to $274m.

Hinge now limits users' simultaneous match conversations to reduce unanswered messages to help "daters shift their mindset from quantity to quality of matches" and follow through with their matches. This is helping increase response rates on the app.

Earlier this year, Bumble acquired Geneva, a group chat app for niche communities for $17m. Bumble founder and chair Whitney Wolfe Herd said we "will not be a dating app in a few years" but rather for "human connection." CEO Lidiane Jones said the company will "enable the next generation of online-to-real-world connections."

by Dan Latu, Katie Balevic & Sydney Bradley
See full article at Business Insider

Mark Brooks: Dating companies need to persuade the public they have their best interests at heart. User sentiment is changing. We need to solve the continuity problem by broadening our perspective while increasing our sheer utility in dating. AI is the future.

See the top news on Tinder                See the top news on Match Group
See the top news on Bumble              See the top news on Hinge

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How Two Friends Quit Healthcare to Build Fourplay, a 60,000-User Dating App

Posted on September 6, 2024

Fourplay logo 2022BUSINESS INSIDER – Julie Griggs and Danielle Dietzek, former healthcare professionals, founded the dating app Fourplay in 2019 with no prior tech experience. They left their jobs in 2022 to run the startup full-time. Fourplay, which facilitates double dates, faced early challenges, including COVID-19 and technical issues, but the founders overcame them by hiring in-house developers. The app gained traction through user-generated content, particularly a viral TikTok video, and now boasts 60K users. They credit their success to learning from mistakes, leveraging their network, and adapting to the tech space despite their initial inexperience.

by Dan Latu
See full article at Business Insider

See the top news on Fourplay

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New Dating Startups Offer Fresh Alternatives to Traditional Apps

Posted on August 28, 2024

Fourplay logoBUSINESS INSIDER – New dating startups are shaking up the industry, responding to user fatigue with traditional apps like Tinder and Hinge. Notable startups include Pique, which offers daily matches without swiping, and Fourplay, which focuses on double dating. Friend of a Friend emphasizes mutual connections, while Boo uses personality-driven profiles. FFWD offers video profiles for genuine interactions, and Sitch and Amori incorporate AI-powered matchmaking and coaching. These apps aim to create more meaningful and real-life interactions for users.

by Sydney Bradley & Dan Latu
See full article at Business Insider

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