Chinese Dating App Blued Looks at NASDAQ IPO
Contributed by: kellyseal on Friday, July 03 2020 @ 08:44 am
Last modified on Friday, July 03 2020 @ 08:53 am
China-based dating app Blued has filed for an IPO on NASDAQ, expanding its global and financial opportunities.
The company aims to raise $50 million from the IPO, according to TechCrunch[*1] , which will go towards investment in technology and expanding the app in other countries. International users make up about half of its current membership.
Blued is part of a gay dating and lifestyle app called BlueCity founded by Baoli Ma in 2011, who is a formerly closeted gay policeman in China who was looking for a way to connect with others. While Blued originally seemed to model itself after dating app Grindr - (which was bought and later forced by the U.S. government to be sold by its Chinese owner Kunlun Tech) – the company added new features that included in-app video chats and livestream capabilities to distinguish itself.
Tech Crunch points out that while Blued’s primary user demographic is gay men, it has recently offered a letter of intent for an equity investment to acquire a Chinese lesbian dating app, a move to expand further into the LGBTQ+ community.
“To me, herein lies the power of the internet — it empowers us to elevate ourselves, and to bring warmth to others across all corners of the world living in loneliness, helplessness and fear because of their sexual orientation,” wrote Ma, who is also the CEO of BlueCity, in the prospectus.
The vast majority – 88.5 % of Blued’s revenue – comes from users purchasing virtual gifts during livestreams. Advertising and premiere services also contribute to revenues. In 2019, the company netted $107 million in revenue and had 49 million registered users.
Blued has developed a following in India, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. But expanding a gay dating app into new countries can be tricky because of anti-LGBTQ laws, especially in places like Sudan and Saudi Arabia where it’s severely criminalized. In other countries, there might not be criminalization, but prejudices persist, even in China who decriminalized it in 1997. In 2018 in Indonesia, the country asked Google Play to black Blued from its app store along with other similar apps.
Blued has faced controversy too. Last year, the app was forced to stop new registrations after it was discovered the company wasn’t enforcing its age verification process and allowing underage people to join.
In recent years, Blued has positioned itself to be a healthcare resource for its members, offering HIV consultancy and even connecting users with surrogates in other countries.