BUSINESS LEADER – Research by Bumble shows that across the UK, racial bias is overwhelmingly happening at popular date spots. As a result of these experiences, almost two-thirds (65%) of Black British people say that they actively choose to go on dates at Black-owned small businesses. Based on these findings, Bumble is launching a campaign celebrating Black-owned businesses. The campaign, in partnership with Metallic Inc, and featuring Reggie Yates, Zeze Millz, and Stephanie Yeboah, will showcase Black-owned date spots and will include the launch of a grant programme to support small businesses that have been hard hit by the pandemic.
Category: Reporters – James Cook
HER, the Dating App for Queer Women, Revamps Profiles
TECH CRUNCH – June 26 – The updated profiles allow users to express themselves more fully in the categories of gender, sexuality, pronouns, diet preferences, star signs, drinking, smoking and cannabis habits, among others. HER has also added space for a text bio, which is very common on other dating apps but wasn't a part of Her. HER launched four years ago, rebranded from Dattch, with the intent to give queer women a space to safely and freely express themselves and meet each other. The app has 4.5M registered users, and has raised $2.5M in funding.
For Badoo’s Founder Andrey Andreev Food Is His Biggest Passion
BUSINESS INSIDER – Mar 25 – Badoo CEO Andrey Andreev eats at Michelin-starred restaurants almost every day. He often adds his own dishes and cocktails to restaurant menus. Andreev's regular weekday lunch is at a Michelin-starred restaurant, and he takes no longer than 30 minutes. But he also likes to eat fast when he's socialising in the evenings. The Michelin-starred L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon in Covent Garden charges £65 for a five-course lunch, and is the restaurant close to Badoo's office where Andreev used to eat daily. Andreev said that the restaurant's menu includes an onion soup that he created.
Q&A With The CEO Of Dating App Badoo
BUSINESS INSIDER – Apr 18 – Andrey Andreev hasn't done any interview since 2013. He is the CEO of Badoo. Russian-born Andreev prefers to maintain a low-profile, despite his app's popularity. Badoo was the most downloaded dating app in 21 countries in 2016, ahead of Tinder which was the most downloaded in 18 countries. Badoo has been completely redesigned. Andreev admitted that it was long overdue. Badoo was launched in 2006, and it raised $30M from Russian VC firm FINAM Technology Fund in 2008. The fund bought 10% of Badoo, which valued the business at $300M, before buying another 10% in 2009 at a higher valuation. Badoo does deals with other dating apps but it isn't looking for acquisitions. Smaller apps (Blendr, Huggle, Chappy) use Badoo's technology in exchange for a 50% revenue share deal. The most high-profile partnership that Badoo has is with Bumble. The partnership between Badoo and Bumble isn't a 50/50 revenue share deal, Andreev said. Read the full Business Insider interview.
Tinder Tells Users Which Profile Photo Works The Best
BUSINESS INSIDER – Oct 13 – Tinder is launching a new feature called "smart photos" which will figure out users' most attractive photos and reorder their profile so they're more likely to get matches. Tinder says smart photos has been in testing and resulted in a 12% increase in matches.
Huggle Survey: Tinder Is Making People Self-conscious
BUSINESS INSIDER – July 2 – A new survey, carried out by social app Huggle, has found that 62% of people say dating apps like Tinder make them feel self-conscious and depressed about their appearance. Huggle doesn't use "face-swiping" and matches people based on the locations they go to. It works in a similar way to French dating app Happn. Huggle has received investment from Andrey Andreev, the Russian entrepreneur who cofounded dating app and social network Badoo. Huggle was founded by model Stina Sanders and gardening blogger Valerie Stark.
Match Group Has Managed To Prevent Tinder ‘Cannibalising’ Its Other Dating Sites
BUSINESS INSIDER – May 5 – Some investors and analysts had been worried about users being shifted from one Match-owned app or site to Tinder. Tinder is hugely popular – Match reported that it has 1M members of its paid "Tinder Plus" tier that offers extra features. However, Match's earnings showed that the company has managed to avoid cannibalisation by growing Tinder's rivals as well as the app itself.
by James Cook
See full article at Business Insider
Dating App Bumble Caught Advertising Without Permission
BUSINESS INSIDER – Mar 31 – Bumble is trying to attract new users with an eye-catching campaign of yellow graffiti ads in London, but it didn't have permission and will need to remove all of the ads or face a fine.
Tinder Would Be Worth $1.6B As A Standalone Business
BUSINESS INSIDER – Apr 2 – JMP Securities analysis says that Tinder would be worth ~$1.6B as a standalone business, 20% of IAC's market cap. JMP is also optimistic about the number of users who will start paying for Tinder. It says that monetisation from Tinder could become 5% of IAC's revenue in 2016, bringing in $121M from subscriptions. JMP also predicts that 2.2% of Tinder users will pay for Tinder Plus by 2016. Tinder could bring in $70M in ad revenue by 2016.
