Dating App Business That Turned Down $30M ‘Shark Tank’ Offer

The Kang sisters developed the dating that is successful, Coffee Meets Bagel.

The Kang siblings, Soo, Dawoon and Arum, stunned everybody if they said no to $30 million, walking far from Mark Cuban’s record-setting offer for his or her dating application on ABC’s “Shark Tank” earlier in the day this present year.

“We got therefore emails that are many ‘You sisters are incredibly crazy! What exactly are you thinking? ’” Dawoon Kang told “Nightline. ” “Seeing most of the feedback and reviews if we were not women… I have to wonder, being called ‘greedy, ’ ‘gold digger, ’ would we have been called those names? I experienced to wonder that. ”

“If we had been guys, we might oftimes be called ‘Bold! Visionary! Brave’ for rejecting. Needless to say we weren’t called that, ” Arum Kang added, laughing.

However it would probably turn into a courageous, bold and visionary move because Soo, 35, Dawoon and Arum, both 32, believe their dating software, Coffee Meets Bagel, is really worth much more, great site specially given that Tinder is respected at $1.5 billion.

Coffee matches Bagel, that has raised $7.8 million in outside money and it has significantly more than doubled its individual base since appearing on “Shark Tank” in January, areas itself as a substitute for many sick and tired of over-sexualized times the sisters state are on other services that are dating. Alternatively it fixes up individuals up with matches that give attention to quality over amount.

“We like to phone ourselves the anti-Tinder, ” Arum stated. “Any girl who has got utilized tinder has one or numerous tales of this types of behavior males display on Tinder … it is maybe perhaps not the maximum experience and … it seems creepy. ”

Coffee suits Bagel is free together with application provides one match, or a “Bagel, ” by noon each according to its website day. Users have actually a day to choose either to “Like” or “Pass” on the Bagel, of course two different people “Like” one another, then your application will start a personal talk to allow them to set a date up, which just can last for 7 days. Bagels are determined through some type of computer algorithm that combs through users’ Twitter buddies and “friends of friends, ” assessing passions and individual experiences to match users with pages similar to theirs.

But Coffee Meets Bagels faces competition in a niche that is crowded software market, increasing against apps like Tinder, Hinge, Bumble as well as the League, that are all vying for his or her bit of the calculated $2 billion online dating industry.

But unlike Tinder, where 58 % of their users are male relating to their data, Coffee Meets Bagels boast a lot of feminine users. The Kang siblings state that is because their users are seeking love, certainly not intercourse.

“Females constitute nearly 1 / 2 of Tinder’s individual base, ” Tinder stated in a declaration to ABC Information, and “there are scores of ‘swiped right’ stories that demonstrate Tinder is producing significant and connections that are lasting the planet. “

Jamie Miller, whom simply relocated to bay area from a little city in Ohio, tried Coffee matches Bagel because she wished to weed out of the weirdos.

“once I first relocated right right here we came across a small number of dudes but I felt like no body took it seriously, ” she said. “Just, ‘Hey nice to generally meet you… bye…’ and I also want something a lot more than that. ”

Her very very first “Bagel” ended up being Zach, a 26-year-old company designer for the next start-up, as well as in speaking with one another, they both discovered out they’d athletics in keeping, he soccer, and her cross-country.

“We have actually a whole lot in typical, ” Miller said. “ He has got a personality that is great. I enjoy him to date. It’s the start. ”

Whether this Bagel will turn into “the one” or perhaps not, the Kang siblings are confident that Coffee Meets Bagel has what must be done to revolutionize the relationship game.

At their home workplace in new york, they’ve a wall surface of popularity aimed at a number of their users that are early finished up marrying their matches. In reality, the siblings state these are typically now creating about 500 partners per week, with an increase of than 200 marriages and 20,000 relationships because of matches through their software.

“At the finish of the time we knew we made the right decision, ” Dawoon Kang stated.