Category: Reporters – Sara Castellanos

Jess Meet Ken Ditches Its Website, Launches Mobile App

Posted on November 4, 2015

Jessmeetken screenshotBOSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL – Nov 3 – Online dating startup Jess, Meet Ken has ditched its website in favor of launching a mobile app. The app allows women to create profiles of single men they know but are not romantically interested in, who could be good matches for other women. Women can then ask to be introduced to a man that another woman vouches for. The company is backed by $250K in funding and plans to raise more this year. Jess, Meet Ken intends to launch a premium, paid-feature model down the road.

by Sara Castellanos
See full article at Boston Business Journal

See all posts on JessMeetKen

Summarized by Courtland Brooks Internet Dating Marketing Consulting agency

Marketing Software Firm HubSpot Buys Dating App Rekindle

Posted on March 26, 2015

Rekindle logoBOSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL – Mar 24 – Rekindle is a Boston-based mobile app that allows users to discover friends of friends and connect with them. The app launched last fall and is backed by Google Ventures and FKA Atlas, the tech-investment arm of Cambridge-based Atlas Venture. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Rekindle will be shut down and HubSpot will be leveraging the mobile app's back-end technology. HubSpot is a Cambridge-based marketing and sales software firm.

by Sara Castellanos
See full article at Boston Business Journal

This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.

Summarized by Courtland Brooks Internet Dating Marketing Consulting

College Party App Wigo Raised $1.5M

Posted on February 25, 2015

Wigo app screenshotBOSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL – Feb 24 – Wigo, a Boston-based app that lets college students find parties and meet new people, has raised $1.5M in venture funding, bringing its total valuation to $14M. The company now has $2M in funding.

by Sara Castellanos
See full article at Boston Business Journal

This post also appears on InternetDatingInvestments.

Summarized by Courtland Brooks Internet Dating Marketing Consulting

Jess, Meet Ken Now Has 10k Users

Posted on February 11, 2015

Jessmeetken logoBOSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL – Feb 10 – Ken Deckinger met his wife Jess through a female friend. "It worked for us, and we'd love to share the experience we had with other people," he said. They launched Jess, Meet Ken, a dating site that allows women to act as matchmakers. The site has reached 10K users in less than a year. The company aims to close a $400K seed funding round with angel investors in the coming weeks in order to boost sales and marketing and expand the service beyond Boston.

by Sara Castellanos
See full article at Boston Business Journal

See all posts on JessMeetKen

Summarized by Courtland Brooks Internet Dating Marketing Consulting

New Dating App Singled Out Debuts, Seeks $2M In Funding

Posted on September 29, 2014

Singled out appBOSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL – Sep 26 – Set Me Up Inc. has debuted a new app for iOS called Singled Out. The company hopes to close a $2M institutional funding round. Singled Out app features two different interfaces for women and men. Men answer questions posed by women such as "What do you like best, the beach or the mountains?" and women can message, block or "single out" men based on their responses. The company plans to make money by using an in-app currency "Golden Tickets" that allows users to make internal purchases for extra features.

by Sara Castellanos
See full article at Boston Business Journal

See all posts on Set Me Up

Summarized by Courtland Brooks Internet Dating Marketing Consulting

Who’s That: New Group Social/Dating App

Posted on August 7, 2014

Whosthat logoBOSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL – Aug 7 – Who's That, a mobile dating app that launched four months ago, has garnered ~4,700 users to date. It was first released to students at nine colleges around Boston. Who's That is billed as a social app that matches one group of three friends with another group of three friends with the goal of having them meet up at a local bar. The app makes money by partnering with bars around the city and splitting profits from the drinks the six-person party orders, though the company is still fine-tuning its revenue model.

by Sara Castellanos
See full article at Boston Business Journal

Jess, Meet Ken Prepares To Seek Funding

Posted on July 31, 2014

Jessmeetken logoBOSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL – July 31 – Ken Deckinger, co-founder and CEO of dating site Jess, Meet Ken, said his site has grown to "many thousands" of users since the launch in February. Jess, Meet Ken allows women to create profiles of single men they know but are not romantically interested in, who could be good matches for other women. The startup aims to launch a formal fundraising round in the fall — mostly targeting angel investors. Deckinger previously co-founded speed dating and online dating service HurryDate, that was acquired in 2007 by Spark Networks.

by Sara Castellanos
See full article at Boston Business Journal

See all posts on JessMeetKen

Jess, Meet Ken: Women Play The Matchmakers

Posted on February 5, 2014

Jessmeetken logoBOSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL – Feb 3 – On a new dating site, Jess Meet Ken, women create profiles of single men they know but are not romantically interested in, who could be good matches for other women. Women can then be introduced to a man that another woman vouches for. "Women know how to sell a guy better than a guy knows how to sell himself," said Ken Deckinger, the site's founder. Deckinger previously co-founded speed dating and online dating service HurryDate which was sold to Spark Networks in 2007.

by Sara Castellanos
See full article at Boston Business Journal