Coffee Meets Bagel

There's big news coming out of the Coffee Meets Bagel camp: the free online dating site that provides one match every day at noon is expanding nationwide and releasing an iOS app.

Coffee Meets Bagel launched in New York City in 2012, when three sisters decided there must be a better way to date in the Big Apple. They created CMB based on three guiding principles:

1. Unless you want to tell others, your dating life should remain private.
2. Your friends are the best conduits for your dates.
3. Meeting quality people doesn't have to be so awkward or complicated.

Users sign up through Facebook and receive one match - a.k.a. a 'Bagel' - every day at noon that is somehow connected to them. Members then have a time limit in which to respond with a simple LIKE or PASS. If all goes well, Coffee and Bagel are put in touch via a private company texting line and magical breakfast-y sparks will fly.

Co-founder Dawoon Kang says that with the new iOS app, Coffee Meets Bagel is hoping to find the happy medium between traditional online dating services and the current trend of more casual dating apps. "We want to deliver you a very good-quality match, one that you would expect from subscription services, but with the fun of mobile apps," she told TechCrunch.

Coffee Meets Bagel is full of gamified elements that are bound to work well in a mobile context. Members earn 'coffee beans' in the app when they perform certain actions like inviting friends or filling out information. They can then use the beans to purchase special features, like the ability to return to a missed match or a score and ranking. Coffee beans can also be purchased separately.

After its successful launch in New York City, CMB expanded to Boston and San Francisco, followed by Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. The service is now being released to everyone, but the sisters warn that it could hit a few stumbling blocks along the way. In smaller cities with fewer users, the app may not be able to provide a daily match until word spreads and more local users have signed up.

"As we grow, our member base is going to become a lot more diverse," Kang says. "[We'll] have to refine the algorithm very quickly ... to be able to deliver a personal, relevant match." Coffee Meets Bagel has already made more than 1.5 million matches, so it sounds like that diversity isn't far off.

A new couple is on the scene, but is it a match made in heaven?

The couple in question is the dating site and the daily deals site, which have come together as a new dating service called Coffee Meets Bagel (launched April 17 in New York). Arum Kang, founder and Harvard Business School graduate (along with her 2 sisters Dawoon and Soo), was inspired by three goals:

• Make online dating easier, because meeting new people doesn't have to be awkward or complicated.
• Make online dating less random, because your friends are the best way to vet your dates.
• Make online dating more private, because your dating life isn't anyone's business but your own.

Out of those objectives, Coffee Meets Bagel was born. The service takes the static profiles, matching algorithms, rating systems, random searching, and copy/pasted messages out of online dating by blending traditional dating services with the daily deal business model. Rather than searching through a database of potential dates, Coffee Meets Bagel users receive one date per day, delivered directly to their inboxes at noon on the dot. Simplicity? Check.

Coffee Meets Bagel matches users with friends of friends by linking through Facebook authentication, eliminating the worries of meeting strangers and - hopefully - increasing the quality of the dates you're matched with. "Make online dating less random?" Check.

After receiving the daily email, users can review their match's photos and basic profile information (like age, employment, and astrological sign), then "Like" the match or "Pass" on it. If you "Pass," you're asked to leave feedback for the person you passed on and the process begins again the following day. If you "Like" the match, you'll be set up with a private phone line for 7 days, which can be used to set up an in-person meetup. Give users stronger safety measures and increased privacy? Check.

On top of those basic features, Coffee Meets Bagel also includes elements of online shopping and gamification in the service. Users can accumulate "coffee beans" by performing certain actions, like leaving feedback for vetoed dates and referring new members. Those coffee beans can then be redeemed for products, beverages, events, and more.

And it gets even better. If you decide to take the plunge and go on a date, Coffee Meets Bagel will hook you up with free gifts, like champagne, chocolate, and oysters, at some of the city's hottest date spots. So far the service is only available in NYC, but Coffee Meets Bagel plans to expand their reach as soon as they receive 1,000 emails from users in a city who are interested in the service.