Mamba, the leading online dating company in Russia, has acquired Teamo.ru, an online service launched in 2010 by Moscow-based Internet startup investor and incubator Fastlane Ventures. Russian business daily Kommersant heard from a source “with knowledge of the project” that Teamo has been valued at “several million US dollars.”
Mamba’s general manager Andrey Bronetskiy characterized Teamo as “a niche premium service” which will allow his company to “raise revenue streams,” Kommersant reported.
Unlike many traditional dating sites, Teamo offers in-depth personality and compatibility tests to enhance matchmaking compatibility – a concept initially developed in the West by such players as eHarmony.com. Based on “scientific algorithms” that can match singles “by 17 characteristics,” Teamo claims to be Russia’s “number one dating site for serious relationships.”
The site claims more than 10 million registered users.
Teamo.ru was launched in late 2010 to compete with first-mover Monamour.ru — which it acquired two years later. Backed initially by Fastlane and e.ventures, Teamo received in 2012 an additional capital injection from UMJ Russia, a subsidiary of United Managers Japan.
According to data from Kartoteka.ru cited by Kommersant, Teamo’s sales revenues reached 164 million rubles last year (approximately $4.3 million at the average exchange rate in 2014), up 64% from 2013, with losses amounting to 56.7 million rubles ($1.5 million).
With its international network Wamba, Mamba claims more than 30 million users in 15 countries. In 2014, the company’s revenues reached 588.5 million rubles (approximately $15 million), down 5.6% from the previous year. Net profit also decreased (-30.4%) to 71.9 million rubles ($1.9 million), according to Kommersant. 30% of the company belongs to Mail.ru Group with the other 70% held by investment company Finam.
