Business Wire

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

Share

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.

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

Midea Group releases its first-ever ESG brand story with an unexpected VIP visit highlighting its commitment to sustainability.29.3.2024 04:39:00 EET | Press release

Midea Group: This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240328526418/en/ Background: Midea Group, a leading global technology group, recently released its 2023 Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Report with ambitious sustainable development goals set for 2030. They include achieving over 500 megawatts of photovoltaic power generation, reducing greenhouse gas emission intensity (scopes 1 and 2) by 0.040, secure Energy Management System Certification for 50 factories, and achieve 100% carbon footprint accounting for major categories of smart home appliances. This is aligned with the Sustainable Development Report Standards of the Global Report Standards of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). The new report and campaign focuses on four dimensions: Protect the Blue Planet, Build a Harmonious Community, Practice 'Bring Great Innovations to Life', and Jointly Create the Prosperous Ecology. The campaign: Midea’s ESG

DC Secretary Announces Annual Determinations Committees Outcome28.3.2024 23:14:00 EET | Press release

DC Administration Services, Inc. has today announced the composition of five regional Determinations Committees (DCs), effective from April 27, 2024. Voting Dealers (for all regions): Voting Non-Dealers (for all regions): Bank of America N.A. Citadel LLC Barclays Bank plc Elliott Management Corporation BNP Paribas Pacific Investment Management Company LLC Citibank, N.A. Deutsche Bank AG Goldman Sachs International JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. Voting Dealer for the Americas, EMEA, AEJ, and Japan Determination Committees: Mizuho Securities Co., Ltd. The process for selecting DC members is specified in the DC rules. The DC rules, along with more information about the Determinations Committees and what they do can be found at the Determinations Committees website: https://www.cdsdeterminationscommittees.org/. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240328441002/en/ Contact information Press Inquiries: Orlando Figueroa orlando.figueroa@citadelspv.com

Faster Recoveries, Improved Security: HTEC and G2 Risk Solutions Join Forces to Advance Bankruptcy Management28.3.2024 19:02:00 EET | Press release

HTEC, a global digital consulting, software engineering, and product development company, is announcing a strategic collaboration with G2 Risk Solutions (G2RS), the preeminent provider of end-to-end bankruptcy technology solutions. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240328622816/en/ HTEC & G2 Risk Solutions Partnership (Photo: Business Wire) Under the agreement, G2RS will engage HTEC to incorporate its leading-edge technology into G2RS’ premier bankruptcy management platform. As the creators of the most comprehensive national bankruptcy database and the first bankruptcy management portal, G2RS is an industry pioneer. By adding HTEC’s premium engineering to the G2RS technology stack, G2RS will offer new and innovative functionalities to help clients expedite financial recoveries, increase data protection, and reduce operational inefficiencies in the bankruptcy management life cycle. “We are thrilled to be a part o

LambdaTest Launches The Phoenix Project, an Employee Resource Group for Women28.3.2024 18:00:00 EET | Press release

LambdaTest, a leading cloud-based unified testing platform, announced the launch of The Phoenix Project, an Employee Resource Group (ERG) dedicated to supporting and promoting the success of its female employees. “LambdaTest is committed to fostering a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace where all employees feel valued and empowered to reach their full potential,” said Chandini Chopra, VP of People and Culture at LambdaTest. “The Phoenix Project is a critical step towards achieving this goal by providing a platform for professional development, networking, and mentorship, especially for our women employees.” The Phoenix Project Aims To: Offer professional development workshops, networking opportunities, and dedicated time off for women to participate in ERG initiatives. Provide mentorship programs connecting senior female employees with mentees. Promote leadership development among women within the company. Create a sense of community for women in the workplace. Leadership and

The reopening of the Yokohama Museum of Art adds another innovative and distinctive venue for events in Yokohama28.3.2024 18:00:00 EET | Press release

After extensive renovations, the iconic Yokohama Museum of Art has reopened its doors to visitors from all over the world. The museum’s reopening paves the way to new and closer collaboration with international events in Yokohama. This extraordinary venue is the ideal setting for a one-of-a-kind gathering, in part, supported by the Yokohama Convention & Visitors Bureau (hereinafter YCVB). The Yokohama Museum of Art Founded in 1989, the Yokohama Museum of Art collects over 14,000 works of art that reflect the many facets of life in Yokohama—past, present, and future. The reopening of the museum coincides with the Yokohama Triennale, an international exhibition featuring contemporary artists whose decentralized exhibits turn the entire metropolis into an art museum. The 8th Yokohama Triennale is being held from March 15 to June 9, 2024, with the Yokohama Museum of Art being a pivotal venue for the exhibition. With the museum firmly back on the map as Yokohama’s leading artistic venue, YC

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
HiddenA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.Eye