It appears as though Seattle is house to increasingly more technology organizations by your day — and after this is not any various.
GeekWire has discovered that San Francisco-based startup Coffee Meets Bagel, which rose to popularity following its founders rejected a $30 million deal from investor Mark Cuban on Shark Tank, is starting a fresh Seattle workplace. Any office may be the company’s first location beyond your Bay region and certainly will house five workers whenever it starts Jan. 2.
Coffee matches Bagel Co-founder and Co-CEO Arum Kang told GeekWire any office expanded naturally from the decision that is startup’s hire brand brand new workers according to skill, perhaps maybe not location. The organization has hired specific workers in towns spread throughout the U.S., however in Seattle, it attracted three new hires rapidly.
Coffee satisfies Bagel works to make the dating experience better for females utilising the platform. (Coffee Meets Bagel picture via iTunes)
“This is just why, especially for Seattle, we chose to double-down more,” Kang said, additionally calling out of the wide range of skill from big employers like Microsoft and Amazon. Any office may be within the Westlake WeWork in Seattle for now and Kang stated she expects it to cultivate, possibly starting a complete workplace in the coming years.
Coffee satisfies Bagel is really a dating application, and Kang stated its key sauce is just how it curates the experience that is dating. Its approach expanded away from research she did to get her MBA at Harvard — she learned just just how individuals make connections over social support systems, especially within the realm that is dating and she discovered some interesting habits.
The obvious had been the amount of users, and especially involved users, on online dating services: the majority that is vast guys.
“Our unique insight ended up being: there was a problem that is huge internet dating platforms for the reason that the common sex ratio is wholly lopsided. It is 65 to 35 male to feminine ratio. And that is just users — it’s even more extreme,” she said if you look at engaged users, because men tend to be almost twice as likely to be active than women. The figures revealed that creating a great consumer experience for ladies had been a must for a brand new dating solution.
Coffee satisfies Bagel ended up being established a couple of months later on by the Kang siblings: Arum, her twin sister Dawoon and their older sister Soo. Arum and Dawoon are actually co-CEOs of the ongoing business, which employs 35 and has now raised $8 million up to now.
The founders thought, “If we could attract and retain females, we are able to essentially boost the experience for both genders,” Kang stated.
The dating experience depending on a user’s gender and sexual orientation to accomplish that goal, they created a new kind of platform that tailors. Kang explained that ladies have a tendency to would rather have matches curated for them rather than sifting through a lot of pages and therefore males prefer the contrary, based on research regarding the industry.
To attempt to satisfy everyone else, Coffee suits Bagel sends as much as six curated matches to females in the platform each day or more to 21 curated matches to males. Those figures are modified somewhat for LGBT users whom may have an interest in lovers for the sex that is same. And in heterosexual matches, ladies must result in the move that is first start an discussion.
The online dating sites area is crowded, to put it mildly. Coffee suits Bagel is up against founded players, like Match.com and eHarmony along with brand brand brand new arrivals like Tinder and Bumble.
Kang states the aim of Coffee Meets Bagel is far distinct from secret benefits offerings like Tinde as they are catering to various connections — Tindr is geared towards a enjoyable, instant relationship while Coffee Meets Bagel would like to end up being the go-to resource for producing long-lasting relationships.
That renders the business up against founded players like Match.com and, needless to say, the method a lot of people would rather fulfill somebody: face-to-face.
“We additionally look during the offline experience as our biggest competitor,” Kang stated.
The process could be the perception that is negative of dating that far precedes the application and its own compatriots. Single people, also millennials, say the nevertheless would rather fulfill individuals offline as opposed to look for someone via a community or application.
Kang claims that negative reputation is justified, since it’s clear online dating sites is not presently providing users an event which they enjoy and would like to see.
“There’s no shortcut way to remedy that, it is actually that people need certainly to deliver,” Kang says. “I think the ongoing future of online dating sites is getting linked in the platform,” Kang claims.
Kang is really so positive, she envisions a period when individuals will get to learn one another as well as have actually their very first few times in a dating application or any other platform that is online.
Therefore ended up being it well worth switching down the $30 million offer from Cuban?
“Oh my god yes,” Kang said. “We are worth means, means, far more than that at this point.”
“We’re considering a horizon that is 100-year, I’m maybe maybe not right right right here to create a five, ten-year company,” she said.
Seattle Bank is earnestly trying to assist current and clients that are new the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)
We now have added staff and brand new technology, as they are working seven days per week so that you can assist more employers, including companies and not-for-profits.
GeekWire Newsletters
Contribute to GeekWire’s free newsletters to get every headline
Send Us A suggestion
Have scoop you’d like GeekWire to pay for? Tell us.