Le Figaro reveals that the app was bought by the Chinese group Hello Group, already the owner of social applications and meetings like Momo and Tantan. The amount of the operation was not communicated, but the CEO of Happn, Karima Ben Abdelmalek, sees it as a decisive step: ” With Hello Group, we will have the means of our ambitions. Our goal is that Happn can be in the smartphone of all singles. »
Meetings doped at AI
Until now, the capital of the company has been mainly owned by investment funds (Eurazeo, Alven, Dn Capital, Raine Group, Havas Participations) and some business angels. Employees, managers and founders also had a share.
Happn has stood out in recent years by adopting the “smart dating”, a concept aimed at enriching online meetings thanks to AI. The application proposes, for example, to suggest places for a first appointment according to the affinities of the two profiles. She also modernized her interface and launched a new communication campaign.
These choices have clearly borne fruit. The profitability of the company has tripled in three years … even if no specific figure is communicated (to be taken with tweezers, therefore). In France, the community has gone from 10 to 16 million users in three years, which places Happn in third place behind Hinge and Tinder. Half of the users are between 25 and 35 years old.
Growth is also verified internationally, especially in Argentina (+ 20 %), India (+ 30 %) and Turkey (+ 50 %). “Cthey are countries in the adoption phase of dating apps where we want to continue to export our concept “Explains the CEO. Hello Group will diversify its activities and set foot in Europe, a new market while the financial results fell last year. The company is counting on Synergies with Happn to strengthen its presence in emerging markets.
The online meetings sector nevertheless crosses a delicate period. After the boom linked to the pandemic, users express a certain weariness (dating fatigue “), due to the addictive nature of these services. Competition is also more lively with social networks and niche applications that target specific communities.
The American giants of the sector (Match Group, owner of Tinder and Meetic, or Bumble) saw their audience retreat. They strive to reinvent themselves thanks to artificial intelligence or friendly dating services. In France, Bumble has even recently sold Fruitz, an app acquired three years earlier for $ 75 million, finally taken up by its founders.
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