Finances

Match Group announced that it has fully acquired dating app Hinge, owning 100 percent of the company along with other high-profile brands like Tinder and OkCupid. This news comes on the heels of Match Group’s announcement that it exceeded revenue expectations in the last quarter of 2018, causing its stock to rise.

Previously, Match Group stock had been downgraded from hold to buy by Deutsch Bank analysts. But with the earnings report, its stock climbed more than 5 percent.

Part of the appeal of Match Group to investors is that it has acquired a host of popular dating apps, including Hinge. The app has been through a rebrand over the last year, focusing on attracting more serious daters.

Brian Norgard, who has reigned as Tinder’s chief of product the past two years, announced his resignation.

According to website Tech Crunch, Norgard says he is exiting on a positive note and plans to get back to his entrepreneurial roots. Before he joined Tinder, he founded startup messaging app Tappy, which was acquired in 2014, along with Facebook messaging app Chill, another successful startup with 30 million users. When Norgard first joined Tinder, he was head of revenue and moved on to his chief of product role.

Norgard cites Keith Rabois of PayPal as his inspiration for leaving to pursue something new.

“It’s been a great ride but my strength has always been in the early-stage game,” Norgard told TechCrunch. “What I’m trying to do now is take all the learnings from that wonderful experience and bring them into my investing.”

Bumble continues to dominate dating industry headlines. In recent months, the company continued its high-profile legal battle with Match Group, debuted in India with the help of actress Priyanka Chopra, launched a fund to invest in women-founded companies, and announced an upcoming line of beauty products. Bumble also revealed that it is exploring an IPO, a rare move in the dating space.

“Our revenue is remarkable, and it is only going to get better,” Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd told Forbes in September. “There is a need for a new IPO in this space, and we offer something that nobody else offers. This would allow us to really spread our wings at a new level.”

Plans for the IPO appear to be moving forward. Andrey Andreev, the majority shareholder of Bumble’s parent company, publicly discussed a possible Nasdaq listing with Bloomberg in October. “We’re now in very deep discussions with banks,” including JPMorgan Chase & Co., he said. “The listing would be on the Nasdaq. It’s been in the air for ages, but the serious consideration has happened only recently -- in the past month.”

Match Group stock fell 10% 2 weeks ago in response to falling short of analysts’ Q4 goals, which were released along with their third quarter earnings reports.

Match Group reported revenue of $444 million, topping analyst estimates of $437 million for quarter 3. This is an increase of 29% when compared to quarter 3 of 2017 ($343 million). Match said it expects revenue of $1.72 billion for the year. But despite the growth and positive news, it was the projections for the last quarter which caused the dip in confidence from Wall Street. Analysts projected $454.5 million in Q4, while Match Group estimates it will only reach between $440 and $450 million.

Match Group lowered its estimates because of its higher-than-anticipated spending for Tinder and its other dating apps. Marketing costs are expected to rise 20% for Tinder and other brands like Hinge.

MeetMe Live Video Streaming

In the pass year The Meet Group has doubled down and put the focus on live video steaming for their social entertainment apps including MeetMe, Skout, Tagged, and LOVOO. Live video streaming from real members keeps everyone engaged and has increased their mobile daily active users significantly. With the introduction of Live streaming last year and with the final roll out for all apps in August of this year with LOVOO (there most trafficked app), The Meet Group has been able to diversify revenue mix consisting of in-app purchases, subscription, and 3rd party advertising.

Love is in the air for ProSiebenSat.1 and eHarmony. The German broadcaster has purchased the LA-based dating service through its newly formed e-commerce division, NuCom Group. The company plans to merge eHarmony (along with Compatible Partners, an eHarmony owned same sex dating service) with its own online dating platform, Parship. The parties agreed not to disclose the details of the transaction.

“Creating growth and leveraging synergies are key elements of our strategy. This acquisition is an excellent fit. Bringing these two strong brands together will immediately create a world leading online matchmaking company,” ProSiebenSat.1 CEO Max Conze said in a statement.

Parship is one of the most popular dating platforms in the German-speaking and Benelux regions. NuCom Group has developed the company into one of the most successful properties in its portfolio since acquiring a majority stake for €100 million in 2016. Like eHarmony, Parship is focused on long-term relationships and uses a compatibility algorithm based on a comprehensive questionnaire to match users in its database. Parship and sister brand ElitePartner is expected to have 2 million new registrations this year while eHarmony expects 2.8 million.