Iceland’s #1 Dating App, Smitten, Raises $10M Series A From Makers Fund, Possible Ventures and More to Woo Gen Z-ers Globally With Its Fresh Approach to Dating
15.9.2022 14:01:00 EEST | Business Wire | Press release
Dating app Smitten has raised a $10M Series A from Makers Fund, Possible Ventures, Wonder Invest and current shareholders ByFounders, ProFounders, Tennin, and Smitten's board member and Vivino founder Heini Zachariassen. Smitten, the most popular dating app in Iceland and the second most popular in Denmark, will use the financing to grow its team and to expand to new markets as they woo Gen Zers with their fresh, gamified approach to dating.
“My co-founder, Asgeir, and I share an intense interest in how people connect and communicate,” says David Simonarson, Smitten Co-Founder and CEO. “After years of creating social consumer apps, we fell in love with the online dating space and launched Smitten in 2020. We created personality-based games and fun interactive profiles to make it easy for strangers to form meaningful connections. Seeing how much our users love Smitten, we believe we can become the leading player in online dating for Generation Z.”
Smitten is founded by David Simonarson, CEO, and Asgeir Visir, Designer, and was released by the founders and its CTO, Magnus Olafsson. Smitten mixes games, entertainment, and flirting to jumpstart conversations and help users engage more seamlessly. Smitten's fun and creative approach to dating has struck a chord with Gen Zers, proven by the app’s more than 200 million swipes to date and whopping 30%+ stickiness rate. Most dating apps leave people to convert a match into a conversation with awkward starts that lead nowhere. Smitten makes getting into a conversation as easy as swiping through use of games, interactive profiles and icebreakers. Smitten gets users into fun, quality conversations regardless of their conversation skills, and has found that more than 60% of Smitten matches result in a post-match interaction vs 11% on industry-leading app, Tinder*.
The key to Smitten’s post-match interactions are mini-games people can play on each other’s profiles. “Our questionnaire game, Guessary, allows you to get to know the other person you are viewing by guessing how they answered a series of Yes-and-No questions,” explained Asgeir Visir, Smitten Co-Founder and Designer. “You could be answering questions like ‘Have they ever been arrested?’ or ‘Do they like pineapple on their pizza?’ and you would get immediate feedback if you answered correctly or not. Another fun game, Lie Detector, is inspired by the age-old social game Two Truths and Lie, where people add three statements about themselves to their profile, and you have one chance to spot the lie. These games are designed for users to get to know the person they are viewing before deciding if they want to like them or not. And the beautiful part is when you match with someone, the results of the games are posted in the chat and act as an icebreaker, making it so much easier to initiate a fun conversation.”
“Social discovery and gaming is an increasingly interesting intersection, and the team at Smitten have created an amazingly fun experience that truly strikes a chord with young adults,” said Alli Ottarson, Makers' lead on the deal. “Having spent time building a strong relationship with the founders David and Ásgeir, we have been privileged to a front row seat to follow Smitten´s success. We share a common vision for how the next generation will meet and interact, and we’re thrilled to be a part of the Smitten journey."
To learn more about Smitten, please visit smittendating.com.
ABOUT SMITTEN
Smitten is on a mission to make the most fun dating app in the world. Through creative, unique profile games and entertaining content, Smitten transforms how people view online dating. While operating at the intersection of dating, gaming, and entertainment, Smitten gives its users superpowers by making it as easy as swiping to get into a fun and meaningful conversation. Smitten outperforms the industry-leading dating app regarding post-match interactions, with more than 60% of matches progressing to some interaction. Smitten is founded in Iceland by co-founders David Orn Simonarson, CEO, and Asgeir Visir, UX Designer. The seasoned duo has been working together creating social apps to connect people for the past ten years. The team's mission is to create the most fun dating app in the world.
*per research at https://arxiv.org/abs/1607.01952
About Makers Fund
Makers Fund is a global interactive entertainment venture capital firm focused on early-stage investments. Makers is dedicated to furthering growth and innovation in the interactive entertainment industry. With more than 90 portfolio companies to date, Makers provides founders strategic value that is deeply catered to companies across the value chain in the industry. For more information, visit makersfund.com.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220915005317/en/
Contact information
Sibel Sunar
fortyseven communications for Smitten
makersfund@fortyseven.com
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
One in Three Western Consumers Now Buy Products Discovered on Social Platforms as AI Reshapes Commerce, According to NIQ26.6.2026 11:00:00 EEST | Press release
NIQ (NYSE: NIQ), a leading consumer intelligence company, today revealed new analysis presented at The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) Global Summit showing that nearly one in three consumers in Western markets now purchase products they first discover on social platforms, as artificial intelligence (AI) and emerging commerce models accelerate a shift toward discovery-led commerce. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260626970024/en/ Presented by Emilie Darolles, President, West Europe, NIQ, the findings highlight a fundamental shift in how consumers discover, evaluate, and purchase products—blurring traditional geographic, channel, and operational boundaries. New growth engine: commerce models scaling from East to West NIQ’s latest global insights show that live, social, and quick commerce models—long scaled across Asia—are now a significant driver of incremental digital growth globally, as these formats expand rapidl
SureWerx ® Acquires Genesi S.r.l.26.6.2026 11:00:00 EEST | Press release
SureWerx®, a leading global provider of safety, tool & equipment products, announced today that it has acquired Genesi S.r.l. Terms were not disclosed. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260626881708/en/ Based in Bergamo, Italy, Genesi is a leading provider of safety solutions for work-at-height and confined space solutions. For more than 20 years, Genesi has built its reputation on a customer-centered approach, combining innovative, high-quality products with engineering expertise, training, services, maintenance and after-sales support to help protect workers in high-risk environments. Its portfolio includes fall protection systems, horizontal and vertical lifelines, anchor points, guardrails, ladders, access solutions, and confined space safety systems. Guided by the belief that there is no protection without knowledge, Genesi is committed to advancing safety culture and helping workers return home safely ever
The WSJ Leadership Institute Names Philip Morris International Among “Best Companies For the Future”26.6.2026 11:00:00 EEST | Press release
Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) (NYSE: PM) has been named in the WSJ Leadership Institute’s inaugural “Best Companies for the Future” ranking, which evaluates large corporations on their ability to adapt and succeed in a rapidly evolving global environment. PMI ranks at #97 overall and is the third highest ranked company in the Food Beverage & Tobacco industry group after Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. Compiled by Bendable Labs for the WSJ Leadership Institute, a premium executive learning and leadership program from Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal, the ranking assesses companies across six key dimensions - AI readiness, innovation, talent readiness, financial fitness, resilience, and agility - to identify those that are best positioned for long-term success. PMI’s inclusion reflects the reality that today it is a leading international consumer goods company, focused on a smoke-free future that is underpinned by sustained investment in science, innovation, and evolved organization
Roboverse Reply Impresses at ELROB 2026 With Intelligent Robotic Systems for Critical Missions26.6.2026 11:00:00 EEST | Press release
Roboverse Reply, the Reply Group company specializing in robotics and automation, won the 1st Place in the “Reconnaissance” category and a special prize for “Best Team Effort” at the European Land Robot Trial (ELROB) 2026 in Thun, Switzerland. Teaming up with ELP, a specialist for technical equipment for defusing service, the company demonstrated outstanding performance alongside a field of international participants from June 15 to 19, proving that its autonomous solutions operate reliably under real-world conditions. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260626012237/en/ Roboverse Reply won 1st Place in the “Reconnaissance” category and a special prize for “Best Team Effort” at the European Land Robot Trial 2026, proving that its autonomous solutions operate reliably under real-world conditions. ELROB is Europe’s most demanding and established showcase for robotics and unmanned systems, where leading experts from
QI Tech and Ant International’s Bettr Partner to Expand Credit Access for E-Commerce Merchants and Consumers in Brazil26.6.2026 07:26:00 EEST | Press release
QI Tech, a leading financial services infrastructure provider, has joined forces with Bettr, a leading provider of inclusive and embedded financial services under Ant International, to expand credit solutions for e-commerce sellers and shoppers. The strategic partnership aligns with Brazil’s ongoing efforts to promote inclusive finance, launching targeted lending programs directly within digital marketplaces. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260622444217/en/ Consumers can select BNPL option at checkout, facilitated by Bettr In its initial phase, QI Tech is collaborating with Bettr to provide working capital loans for small and medium-sized e-commerce businesses, allowing them to expand inventory and scale operations effectively. This partnership also includes a consumer-facing Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) option offered at the point of purchase, enabling shoppers on AliExpress to pay in installments. Both services
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom