Earlier this month Dating Group, a Russian-founded international dating major, announced the acquisition of French dating app Once for $18 million in cash and stock.
Founded in 2015 by Jean Meyer and Clémentine Lalande, Once aims to “brings back the magic to the online dating world.” It claims 9 million users, 5 million chats daily and 50 million matches monthly.
This is a ‘serious,’ or ‘slow’ dating app that aims to focus on quality over quantity — using artificial intelligence to provide each user with just one “perfect match” every day.
Thus, the user has just 24 hours to impress his or her match. “It’s an intense moment when you match with someone on Once. You’re gonna want to use your arms, use your legs, use your style, and use your sidestep to secure a rendez-vous within the next 24 hours,” Once suggests its users.
Russian-founded dating giant
Dating Group emerged in 2019 from a $215 million merger between SDVentures and SOL Networks — two Internet holdings founded by Dmitry Volkov and Alla Gubenko, respectively.
The group claims 73 million registered users for its services across 100 countries, generating “more than $250 million in revenue.” Among these services are AfricanDate.com, Arabian Date.com, AsianDate.com, AnastasiaDate, ChinaLove, DateMyAge, Dating.com, Tubit, YourChristianDate, and others.
One of the group’s properties, Dil Mil, touts itself as “the Tinder for South Asians,” targeting expat South Asians in the UK, US and Canada. It was acquired in late 2019 at a value of “up to $50 million,” according to company statements.
In total, Dating Group’s properties account for 33% of the market share for cross-border international dating, says the group, employing more than 500 people in seven countries.
In March 2020, Dating Group announced the launch of a $50 million corporate venture fund.
One of the most prominent Russian-born Internet entrepreneurs, Volkov co-founded Social Discovery Ventures in 1998. He has also involved himself in several major VC funds as a limited partner and in Gagarin Capital as general partner. This VC firm plays a notable role in bringing technologies from Eastern Europe to Silicon Valley.
Volkov’s other centers of interests span from philosophy, to contemporary art, to philanthropy.
Sources: company information, Global Dating Insights (1, 2), TechCrunch, Wikipedia
