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
OpenRouter Raises $113 Million CapitalG-led Series B as Weekly Volume Explodes to 25T Tokens26.5.2026 16:15:00 EEST | Press release
OpenRouter, the AI model exchange, today announced a $113 million Series B led by Alphabet’s independent growth fund, CapitalG, with participation from investors including NVentures (NVIDIA’s venture capital arm), ServiceNow Ventures, MongoDB Ventures, Snowflake Ventures, Databricks Ventures, alongside existing investors including Andreessen Horowitz and Menlo Ventures. OpenRouter’s volume has surged to 25 trillion tokens per week (100 trillion tokens per month), representing a 5X increase from the 5 trillion tokens processed per week just six months ago. The explosion in token demand illustrates how quickly enterprises are deploying agents and scaling AI across multiple models and providers. OpenRouter’s infrastructure manages and optimizes inference and provides access to 400+ models across leading AI providers, including Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, xAI, and DeepSeek, among others. The platform is used by over 8 million global users, including AI-native startups and large enterprises,
Xsolla Expands Its Community Management Tools for Creators, Community Leaders, and Resellers26.5.2026 16:00:00 EEST | Press release
Xsolla, a leading global video game commerce company, today announced three simultaneous expansions of its community management tools and products. As the creator economy continues to reshape how games are discovered and the industry accelerates its shift toward direct-to-consumer commerce, Xsolla is building on its community management tools for creators, community leaders, and emerging markets, and will showcase them at TwitchCon Rotterdam later this month. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260526596720/en/ Graphic: Xsolla The games industry has never had a shortage of people who drive player acquisition, loyalty, and commerce; it's had a shortage of infrastructure that recognizes them. Creators stream it. Community leaders build a culture around it. Local resellers get it into the hands of players in markets traditional channels can't reach. Each operates at the center of how games are discovered, adopted, an
Biocytogen Launches AI-Powered RenSuper™ Platform and Industry-First Fully Automated Antibody Discovery Infrastructure26.5.2026 15:00:00 EEST | Press release
Biocytogen today announced the launch of RenSuper Workstation, a next-generation AI-powered antibody discovery platform providing off-the-shelf access to a large-scale, experimentally validated library of fully human therapeutic antibody sequences, together with the RenSuper High-Throughput Antibody Manufacturing Automation Center, a fully automated infrastructure designed to accelerate antibody validation and production. Built on Biocytogen’s proprietary RenMice® platforms, RenSuper establishes a closed-loop antibody discovery engine combining in vivo immune repertoires, AI-driven candidate selection, automated experimental validation, and scalable manufacturing infrastructure. The platform supports the discovery and development of monoclonal antibodies, bispecifics, multispecifics, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), VHHs, and other advanced therapeutic modalities, significantly reducing the time and risk associated with antibody discovery. RenSuper Workstation: AI-Powered One-Click Tar
ViaLase Announces Global Commercial Introduction of the FLIGHT Procedure26.5.2026 15:00:00 EEST | Press release
ViaLase, Inc., a commercial stage medical technology company pioneering incision-free, laser-based solutions for glaucoma, today announced the successful completion of the first commercial FLIGHT procedures performed at Centre for Sight in London by Sheraz Daya, MD, and Gus Gazzard, MD, and at Breyer, Kaymak & Klabe Augenchirurgie in Düsseldorf, Germany, by Karsten Klabe, MD. The first commercial FLIGHT procedures were performed using the ViaLuxe® Laser System to deliver an incision-free, image-guided femtosecond laser treatment designed to create precise channels through the trabecular meshwork to restore aqueous outflow and reduce intraocular pressure in patients with open-angle glaucoma. “Centre for Sight has always been committed to bringing meaningful innovation to patients through technologies that advance precision, safety, and the overall treatment experience,” said Sheraz Daya, MD, Medical Director and Founder of Centre for Sight. “We are proud to be the first center globally
BioIVT to Spotlight ADME-Tox Expertise and Solutions at Summer 2026 Events26.5.2026 15:00:00 EEST | Press release
BioIVT, the leading biospecimen solutions provider and global research partner for drug and diagnostic development, today announced it will showcase its broad portfolio of ADME-Tox solutions and research expertise at several leading industry events, including the 2026 MPS World Summit and the ISSX 16th European Meeting. The MPS World Summit takes place May 26-May 29, 2026, in Washington, D.C. BioIVT colleagues will be available at booth #115 to discuss research questions and needs, including preparation, handling, and utilization of the high-quality tissues and cells needed for microphysiological systems (MPS), as well as conducting ADME studies and bioanalysis. BioIVT offers an extensive range of control and disease state biospecimens, including SPHEROID CERTIFIED™ Hepatocytes as well as advanced HEPATOPAC® co-cultures and HEPATOMUNE® tri-cultures. Additionally, Christian Smith, Scientist I, R&D at BioIVT will present a poster titled "Therapeutic Reversal of Established Steatosis Usin
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