China’s gay dating app Blued is making its next move – an IPO in the U.S. market.

According to Bloomberg, the largest app for the LGBTQ community in China is planning to raise about $200 million through the IPO. The sale will likely take place next year, and the company could be valued as high as 1 billion US dollars.

Blued was founded by a former policeman named Geng Le in 2012, and now has more than 40 million users and garnered more than $130 million in venture capital as of March of this year, according to Bloomberg. The app offers live streaming and gaming in addition to online dating, and also connects men who want to become parents with surrogates overseas. These types of services are also part of Blued’s strategy to generate additional revenue outside of the traditional dating app.

America's second largest dating company, Spark Networks SE, has reported its first half 2019 financial results. The company's growing portfolio of premium and freemium dating apps includes EliteSingles, Jdate, Christian Mingle, eDarling, JSwipe, Silversingles and, following an acquisition earlier this year, Zoosk.

For the first half of 2019, Spark Networks reported revenue of €49.2 million, a decrease of 7.1% from €53.0 million in the first half of 2018, and a decrease of 4.5% from €51.5 million in the second half of 2018. The company attributes the decline in revenue to a 9% drop in Average Paying Subscribers year-on-year.

Net Loss was €4.9 million in the first half of 2019. This is an increase of €3.8 million compared to €1.1 million in the first half of 2018, and an increase of €2.9 million compared to €2.0 million in the second half of 2018. Spark Networks attributes the year over year increase in Net Loss to the higher professional fees associated with its $255 million acquisition of Zoosk.

Dating services have collaborated with fashion labels, food brands, artists, candlemakers, musicians, movies, television networks, sports teams and charities - but a new crop of partnership deals may be the most surprising yet. According to a recent report by the Houston Chronicle, Tinder and Bumble are hosting parties with fraternities on college campuses. In return, the fraternities are signing contracts declaring that they are exclusively a Tinder house or a Bumble house.

“Simply scan to enroll!,” read a sign posted outside a University of Texas party earlier this year, referring to a scannable QR code printed below. “Must: be within five miles of campus, be ages 18-22, have an existing Tinder profile, have UT Austin in your profile.”

Rosette Pambakian

Rosette Pambakian, former Tinder VP of marketing and communications, is suing the company and its ex-CEO. Pambakian filed a lawsuit on Monday, August 5, accusing the former CEO of Match Group and Tinder, Gregory Blatt, of harassing and sexually assaulting her at a company holiday party in 2016. The suit also alleges that the company fired Pambakian in retaliation for going public with her accusations.

Pambakian says the assault took place at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills. According to the lawsuit, Blatt approached Pambakian at the party and made sexual comments to her “in a lewd voice.” Pambakian says she went to a hotel room upstairs with two colleagues to get away from Blatt, but later that night, he found his way to their room. When he entered, he groped and kissed Pambakian while the two colleagues, one of whom was Blatt’s executive assistant, witnessed the nonconsensual encounter. Together they distracted Blatt until he finally left in a car service, the complaint says.

Match Group is serious about its expansion in the Asian market. It just announced the launch of its new app Pairs Engaged – a “marriage concierge” service to compete with the country’s popular arranged marriage industry.

Pairs Engaged is the opposite of the company’s star dating app Tinder. There’s no casual glancing through photos and swiping left and right. Instead, the customers Match Group is targeting are looking to get married within a year and are serious about the search process.

OkCupid is known for its progressive approach to dating, and soon after its provocative “DTF” campaign in the U.S., the dating app company is launching another unconventional ad campaign in India to appeal to younger daters.

The new campaign is called “Find My Kind,” and aims to give more agency to people looking for a partner. Indian singles have typically adhered to tradition when it comes to finding partners – relying on friends and family members to set them up on dates or seeking arranged marriages.

But younger daters, and especially female daters, have more agency in modern India because they are career-focused and more financially independent than previous generations. In order to appeal to potential customers who are part of this cultural shift - but might not know how to meet potential dates outside of familiar circles - OkCupid has designed an ad that takes viewers through the dating app process.