Matchmakers

Match Group, parent company of popular dating app Tinder, is in talks to purchase a strategic stake in Shaadi, an India-based online matchmaking service.

The Economic Times first reported that the two companies were in talks, and that Match Group was looking to buy out Shaadi’s institutional stakeholders, but few details have emerged.

According to Ink 42, this latest development comes after Match Group has refocused its efforts and brought on a new executive team to run Tinder, which last year saw its first quarter of revenue decline since the company went public. Match Group has set its sights on the fast-growing Asian market, especially India and its large under-30 market.

Filteroff, a new dating app that targets communities of singles, offers virtual speed dating events to set itself apart from traditional swiping apps like Tinder.

The app launched a series of speed dating events specifically for Orthodox Jewish singles starting August 30th, where participants can join from the comfort of their own couches. Each couple is given three minutes to chat over the app, with the option to keep chatting if they connect, or move on to the next.

Other Filteroff virtual speed dating events have been targeted towards vegans, dog lovers, or even Yankee fans, providing services to concentrated communities of singles who have specific needs for matchmaking, according to news site Forward. Events for Jewish singles are meant to compete directly for users of popular Jewish dating app JDate, along with other niche apps.

Executives at Baihe Jiayuan Network Group, an online dating subsidiary of conglomerate Fosun International, a pharmaceutical giant in China, were arrested on charges of embezzlement.

According to the South China Morning Post, the executives were found missing which led to reports of their “disappearance,” sparking rumors across social media platforms. Fosun’s anti-graft department had discovered evidence during routine online checks of the company that the executives had abused their positions to commit the crime. The department alerted Fosun which reported the executives to Chinese authorities.

The report of the missing executives initially surfaced on Weibo, with a post sharing that the company’s top executives, including its CEO, chief operating officer, and chief financial officer, along with a number of vice presidents, had disappeared according to South China Morning Post. Local news picked up the story, so Baihe Jiayuan released a statement saying the executives were in custody and cooperating with authorities.

Since Tinder was banned in Pakistan, young singles are flocking to private Facebook groups to meet others to date, even though Facebook Dating is not available in the country.

One of the most popular Facebook groups is Two Rings, a volunteer-run matchmaking group that does not charge its users any fees. It currently has about 228,000 members, and at least 335 couples have found spouses through the group, according to news source Rest of World.

"Instead of waiting on their parents or family to find somebody, they are actually now doing it all on their own," a cofounder of a Facebook dating group for graduates of some of Pakistan’s premier business schools told Business Insider.

Dating app Match is beta testing some new features geared towards those interested in more “emotionally mature” relationships, an indication that the longstanding dating platform aims to cater to more serious daters.

According to Tech Crunch, the features are centered around two big frustrations with daters in their thirties who are ready to settle down: how long it takes to find a good match, and how pervasive the problem of ghosting has become. One feature called “Matched By Us” provides recommendations like a matchmaking service based on more in-depth questions the users are prompted to answer. The company is also testing an anti-ghosting feature that pushes users to continue a conversation or unmatch with that person, so that they aren’t left wondering what happened. 

Matched By Us presents one free match every week (available for both subscribers and non-paying members), where the couple can start up a conversation immediately without waiting for mutual likes. The matches are made through an algorithm that examines answers to questions posed to users, like their five-year plans or whether they are open to relocating for a relationship. 

Omiai Dating App Homepage

One of Japan’s leading dating apps Omiai reported that it had been hacked, exposing the personal data of over 1.7 million of its users in one of the country’s most high-profile security breaches.

According to Bloomberg, some of the data leaked was especially sensitive, including photo IDs from driver’s licenses, insurance cards and passports that are used to verify users’ ages. Credit card data was not exposed, according to the company, but it’s unclear how many accounts were accessed.

The app’s developer Net Marketing Co said that after discovering the breach, it blocked the hacker’s IP address and implemented a number of other security procedures to safeguard user data, according to Gizmodo. Still, Japanese markets responded unfavorably to the news with the company’s stock falling 19 percent. Since Net Marketing Co went public in 2017, this has been the biggest drop in share price for the $70 million company.