The online dating app from San Francisco, Coffee Meets Bagel (CMB), has raised $12 million Series B funding led by new investor Atami Capital, a UK-based venture capital firm. This capitalization round brings the total raised by the company to nearly $20 million since 2012.
The partnership with Atami Capital enhances international knowledge and connections as CMB begins to identify opportunities in markets beyond the US for 2018. In India, Coffee Meets Bagel is already cited as one of the most popular dating apps by Indian web portals. For Tinder, India is already one of the largest market in Asia and the world’s fastest growing market, making the country a red hot possibility even for CMB to target.
Arum Kang, co-founder and co-CEO of Coffee Meets Bagel said, “These funds have been earmarked for growth and innovation as we continue to execute on our ambitious goals of getting singles worldwide to share and connect authentically, both via our app and offline.”
Joining Atami are several other international venture capital firms as well as prominent female investors including GingerBread Capital led by Linnea Roberts, Shannon Grant, Kheng Lian Ho and Helen Schwab. Existing investors DCM Ventures, Wi Harper and Quest Venture Partners also participated in this round.
“The team at Coffee Meets Bagel provides a thoughtful, differentiated and curated online dating experience,” said Linnea Roberts, founder & CEO of GingerBread Capital speaking on reason for investing. The new financing will help drive international expansion, development and product innovation like CMB Experiences.
Coffee Meets Bagel, named one of the Top 10 Dating apps by Time Magazine, has also been voted the #1 recommended dating app for singles looking for relationships.
In India, dating apps are increasingly helping the youth, typically those in the 18-34 bracket, to connect with other like-minded individuals looking for romantic relationships or for the purpose of growing their social network.
According to ASSOCHAM secretary general, D.S. Rawat, ‘Currently dating app [industry] is at a nascent stage and not even worth Rs 500 crore but with rising number of youngsters across India giving … online dating [a try], it will soon become a multi-crore industry”. In addition to CMB, other popular dating apps used by Indians include Tinder, Happn and TrulyMadly. Tinder, the market leader in Indian dating, and the most popular one, witnessed a 400 percent increase in downloads in the country in 2014.