Deals, earnings, valuations and investor news from the dating business.
Opinion: Match Group's AI push is a response to a declining business, not a breakthrough, as apps profit from engagement and users want efficiency.
TikTok will phase out anonymous Custom Identity ads in early 2026, forcing dating apps to advertise through verified public accounts or withdraw.
WhatsApp added role tags, text-based stickers and enhanced event reminders to group chats, which analysis says challenges dating apps after the match.
TikTok's new region-specific 2026 marketing calendars are a sales pitch for dating app ad spend, and operators should test them against their own data.
Known raised $9.7M from Forerunner, NFX, Pear VC and Coelius Capital to charge $30 per date, and claims an 80% match-to-meetup rate.
Match Group and Bumble's Asia push looks defensive, the analysis argues, as India's 200 million 2025 downloads bring lower ARPU than North America.
Matrimony.com shares jumped 14% as its board prepares to consider a third share buyback on 29 January, after earlier premiums of 27% to 71%.
Match Group's paying users fell 6% to 10.3 million while Replika's subscribers grew 35%, according to Sensor Tower.
GoodDate, a US nonprofit dating app, has launched with no ads or paywalls. Founder Drew Harding has not said how it will be funded.
TikTok launched its Nearby Feed in the UK, Ireland, Netherlands and Norway, showing local public posts and challenging dating apps' venue discovery role.
Bethenny Frankel launched The Core, a screened dating community charging members between $700 and $1,200, with success measured by matches made.
Meta says Facebook Dating is a top player in the US with no traditional marketing, but Connor Hayes gave no user, retention or revenue figures.
Grindr's board ended a $3.46 billion take-private bid on 24 November 2025 after Ray Zage and James Lu failed to show financing. Shares fell 10.6%.
Facebook Dating has 21 million daily active users, Meta disclosed on an earnings call, reached with almost no marketing and no disclosed revenue plan.
Info Edge Ventures bought the remaining 3.65% of Aisle Network for Rs. 5.50 crores ($650,000), giving it full ownership of the five-app dating group.
Grindr presented a 36-piece fashion collection with Rainbow Wool, using wool from rescued rams, as its EBITDA margin hit 39.4% in Q3 2024.
Yuzu, the London-based Asian dating app, has launched a 'phygital' campaign with Chubby Group, with a web series, £14 cocktail and events.
Matrimony.com's net profit fell 41% year-on-year to ₹167 million ($2M) in Q2 FY2026, as revenue slipped 1% to ₹1.57 billion ($18.7M).
Tawkify has launched Arrows.com, a matchmaker-led dating platform with no swiping and 30-minute video dates. Pricing has not been disclosed.
Match Group's Q3 revenue rose 2% to $914M and adjusted EBITDA fell 12%, as it spent $550M on buybacks year-to-date and settled a Tinder lawsuit.
A ResumeBuilder.com poll says 34% of dating app users used the apps for networking in the past year, a trust problem for Match Group.
Facebook Dating's US user base among 18-29 year olds grew 24% year-on-year, according to data shared with TechCrunch. The product is free.
Tinder now requires video selfie verification for new users in eight markets. Match Group claims it cut 'bad actor' exposure by 60% in test markets.
Bumble's US daily active users fell 6.4% year-on-year, more than Tinder's 5% drop, according to Apptopia. Q3 earnings are due on 5 November.
MediaForEurope's €1.8bn ProSiebenSat.1 takeover has triggered the sale of ParshipMeet Group, which operates dating brands in 25 countries.
Tinder's 2024 revenue was $2.06B, up 1%, while paying subscribers fell 7%, per Match Group. YPulse says 79% of Gen Z singles feel burnt out on apps.
Spark launched in-chat venue booking in Singapore and Thailand, targeting $1.5M in annual revenue from subscriptions and 10-15% venue commissions.
Match Group is testing daily match limits on Tinder, according to TechCrunch, as Cerca's four-a-day model draws 85,000 downloads in six months.
Knot.dating claims operational profitability within six months of launch, with women 60% of paying subscribers, according to its founders.
Grindr is in talks to go private at a roughly $3 billion valuation after lender Fullerton Financial Holdings seized shares from its majority owners.
Grindr CEO George Arison says rivals' paywalls of £20-40 a month are pushing Gen Z off dating apps, in comments to Bloomberg.
Grindr has named John North, formerly CFO at Copart, as its new CFO, replacing Vanna Krantz, in a move that points to a focus on profitability.
AI dating startup Gigi has pivoted to professional networking, with founder Clara Gold saying successful matches mean users delete the app.
Tinder's Gen Z staff group urged Match Group CEO Spencer Rascoff to fix safety and profile quality before adding more features.
Dating app Feels claims $10M in annual recurring revenue within six months of launch, with fewer than 12 people and less than $5M in funding.
Nicky Wake, founder of Chapter 2 Dating and WidowsFire, has launched The Widowed Collective, a non-profit offering bereavement support to widowed people.
Hello Group has acquired full ownership of French dating app Happn, which claims 170 million registered users, and targets Asia and Africa.
Bumble has spun out its BFF friendship feature into a standalone US app after eight years, following workforce cuts of nearly a third.
RSVP, launched in Australia in 1997, is pitching an anti-swipe model, but parent Oasiswork does not disclose subscriber or revenue figures.
Match Group is using AI to personalise dating and monitor safety, but does not publish how it balances match quality and engagement.
Hello Group's paid users fell 15% to 7.3 million in Q4 2024 despite AI conversation coaching, and revenue fell 2.6% to $186.6M year-on-year.
Match Group targets $1bn in Hinge revenue by 2027, up from $700-750m, as Tinder loses ground with Gen Z, CEO Spencer Rascoff said.
Irish dating app Ginger Zinger replaces swiping with direct messaging for redheads and admirers, in a market of roughly 500,000 people.
Chapter 2 Dating Ltd has acquired white-label platform M14, which powers its niche dating apps, ending its reliance on third-party infrastructure.
Match Group reported 14.1 million paying users in Q2, down 5% year-on-year, and has set out a three-year plan built on AI.
Tinder India generated approximately $16M in consumer spend in 2023, according to Sensor Tower, with dating apps focused on metros over smaller cities.
Fourplay Social, a New York double-date app, pairs singles with a friend to match with another pair. It reported 45,000 downloads in 2024.
Raya says it has been profitable since 2021, with revenue growing by more than 50% annually and a waitlist of 2.5 million people.
Grindr's revenue grew 27% year-over-year in Q4 2024, against 3% growth to $864M at Match Group, which is cutting 13% of its workforce.
QuackQuack says 57% of 11,756 Indian users aged 18-30 have had connections outside traditional relationship categories, including 'nanoships'.
Financial covers the money in online dating: quarterly results from Match Group (MTCH), Bumble (BMBL) and Grindr (GRND), private-company accounts filed at Companies House, mergers and acquisitions, take-privates, funding rounds and investor moves. DII reports figures from the filings themselves, gives each number its period and source, and compares companies on the same basis. Every deal also goes into DII's deals tracker.