Kim Harris

First Round's On Me (FROME) hired Gersh Agency's consulting arm to expand into drinks, cafés and podcasts, with no capital figures disclosed.

Dates of Distinction launches on Valentine's Day, charging £49.99 monthly for app access plus human matchmakers and in-person events.

Hinge is rolling out an AI profile coach built on GPT-4o mini. The company says early testers saw a 9% increase in likes received.

79% of Gen Z and Millennial dating app users report burnout from swiping, according to a Couple survey of 2,000 UK users.

Feeld's report of over 9,000 users finds 71% of trans and gender-nonconforming respondents feel safer on dating apps than meeting offline.

Chapter 2 research of nearly 15,000 widowed people finds 63% say dating platforms lack adequate support, pointing to a gap Match Group and Bumble overlook.

Pew data shows the share of single US adults fell from 44% in 2019 to 42% in 2023, a possible headwind for dating apps including Match Group.

Bumble has extended its Amelia Dimoldenberg partnership through 2025, shifting to co-created content on her channels as paying users fell to 4 million.

Chapter 2 founder Nicky Wake is launching Sober Dating on Valentine's Day, entering a category that already includes Loosid and Single & Sober.

Bookmark, an Indian dating app, hides profile photos until users exchange 10 messages, and has 15,000 downloads and 5,000 monthly active users.

A 26-year-old burned-out professional used Japan's Tapple for emotional support, not romance, and operators have not said if it is a wider trend.

Tinder says LGBTQIA+ matches are 30% of all its connections globally, up 66% year on year, released as Thailand legalised same-sex marriage.

Dating apps now lead how couples meet: 39% of heterosexual and 65% of same-sex couples met online by 2017, per Stanford University.

QuackQuack says 30% of users aged 28-35 connect with matches outside their home cities, and 39% of survey respondents rank safety features first.

25.4% of Japanese couples under 40 who married in 2023 met on dating apps, up from 10.8% five years earlier, per a government survey.

Hinge has launched an AI Prompt Feedback tool that coaches users on profile answers. The company says 63% of users struggle with prompts.

Gleeden has reached 3 million users in India with 270% annual growth, and female sign-ups rose 128% year-on-year, outpacing the platform overall.

Therapists warn AI dating tools may erode users' relationship skills, though no longitudinal studies yet show worse outcomes for AI-assisted users.

Tinder's survey of 8,000 young singles found 42% of Gen Z experienced 'nanoships', brief intense connections with no expectation of progression.

Match Group and Bumble are testing AI assistants that message and screen matches for users, while no major jurisdiction has specific rules on AI impersonation.