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
Laserfiche Names Garrett Boss as CIO to Lead Enterprise IT, Security, and Business Transformation29.9.2026 17:00:00 EEST | Press release
Laserfiche — the leading SaaS provider of intelligent content management and business process automation — today announced the appointment of Garrett Boss as chief information officer. Boss will oversee Laserfiche’s global IT services team and business transformation office, including deployment of internal Laserfiche solutions and all other enterprise-wide IT systems. In this role, he will also oversee governance, risk, and compliance, supporting Laserfiche's mission to scale AI innovation while safeguarding the critical content and lifecycle tools customers rely on. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260929335686/en/ Garrett Boss joins Laserfiche as chief information officer. “Laserfiche’s own technology infrastructure and security posture are central to how we deliver an exceptional product and responsive services,” said CEO Karl Chan. “Garrett is a proven leader with a track record of leading global IT and go
Andersen Global Strengthens Argentina Presence with Fidem Partners29.9.2026 16:30:00 EEST | Press release
Andersen Global expands its tax and transaction capabilities in Argentina through a Collaboration Agreement with Fidem Partners, strengthening its presence and service offerings in the market. Established in 2011, Fidem Partners advises businesses on tax and compliance, M&A, and business process outsourcing. The firm serves companies across the energy, technology, financial services, agribusiness, and consumer goods sectors with deep experience serving subsidiaries of multinational companies in Argentina. Its multidisciplinary team draws on experience from leading professional services firms and business environments to provide practical guidance throughout the key stages of the business lifecycle. "Most of our work is with subsidiaries of multinational companies operating in Argentina, where the regulatory environment demands judgment, not just compliance," said Darío H. Díaz, managing partner of Fidem Partners. "Collaborating with Andersen Global gives our clients access to a global
CEO Pay Tops $18 Million as Turnover Drives Six-Year High in Sign-On Bonuses, According to Diligent29.9.2026 16:00:00 EEST | Press release
Median granted CEO pay at S&P 500 companies rose by more than 8% in 2025 to reach $18.2 million, while cash sign-on bonuses for incoming CEOs hit a six-year high, according to the Executive Compensation in 2026 report from Diligent Market Intelligence. The findings point to a more consequential compensation environment for boards: leadership talent is in shorter supply, CEO transitions are costly, and investors continue to scrutinize how pay decisions connect to performance and long-term value. The Russell 3000 also saw remuneration packages grow larger, with median granted CEO pay climbing over 2% to $7.4 million. “This level of growth has been fueled by performance-based equity and stock awards while both indices have been delivering strong total shareholder returns,” said Josh Black, Editor-in-Chief of Diligent Market Intelligence. “Boards are also increasingly viewing CEOs as a scarce global talent pool.” CEO turnover drives higher transition costs Cash sign-on bonuses for new S&P
Momentum Grows for Miro MCP as Users Embrace the Canvas for AI Collaboration29.9.2026 16:00:00 EEST | Press release
Miro®, the collaboration and context layer for the AI era, has reported more than 16 million calls to its MCP server since its launch in February 2026, with usage more than doubling since May. In September alone, MCP calls are on track to reach 6 million*. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260929837812/en/ Miro's MCP server is a Model Context Protocol integration letting AI tools connect to Miro boards—creating diagrams, tables, and canvas content, and reading existing board data programmatically. Teams increasingly rely on AI to accelerate work—from discovery and planning to design and code. Yet most AI interactions happen in chat windows or static outputs that exist separately from the team's actual workspace. Miro's MCP server changes this by giving users a way to make the output from their AI tools visual, immediately editable, and accessible to the whole team on a shared canvas. Miro user data shows Claude
I-SEC Optimizes Airport Security Workforce Planning with Gurobi and Syntro29.9.2026 16:00:00 EEST | Press release
Gurobi Optimization, LLC, the leader in decision intelligence technology, and its partner Syntro, a provider of workforce scheduling solutions, are helping organizations like I-SEC, an international provider of airport security services, make better operational decisions in increasingly complex and highly regulated operating environments. As organizations face growing pressure to balance labor costs, regulatory requirements, service levels, and employee needs, many are turning to mathematical optimization to improve operational decision making. Airport security workforce planning is particularly complex, requiring organizations to align staffing levels with changing passenger volumes while adhering to strict regulations, accounting for required breaks and certifications, and ensuring coverage across multiple locations and checkpoints. Working with Syntro, I-SEC implemented a shift generator that leverages Gurobi’s solver. Rather than assigning employees directly to schedules, the solut
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