Lumen (dating app)

Last updated

Lumen was a dating app launched in 2018 for individuals over 50, co-founded by Charly Lester.[ clarification needed ] Her app attracted more than 1.5 million users in less than a year.

The app operated on a freemium model, allowing users to join for free while generating revenue through paid "premium" features. These features included advanced search filters, enabling users to refine potential matches based on criteria such as height, children, smoking habits, political views, and zodiac signs. Additionally, premium users could access features like viewing who had marked them as a "favorite."

To address the issue of scammers, the platform employed artificial intelligence software and implemented a "selfie" registration system. This system required users to take a live photograph during registration, which was then compared to their uploaded profile pictures to verify authenticity. [1] [2]

Lumen gained attention as part of MagicLab’s portfolio, which was acquired by Blackstone Inc. in a deal valuing the group at $3 billion. The app was closed down later by Blackstone in 2020. [3] [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Online dating</span> Internet service providing potential relationship contacts

Online dating, also known as internet dating, virtual dating, or mobile app dating, is a method used by people with a goal of searching for and interacting with potential romantic or sexual partners, via the internet. An online dating service is a company that promotes and provides specific mechanisms for the practice of online dating, generally in the form of dedicated websites or software applications accessible on personal computers or mobile devices connected to the internet. A wide variety of unmoderated matchmaking services, most of which are profile-based with various communication functionalities, is offered by such companies.

Tencent QQ, also known as QQ, is an instant messaging software service and web portal developed by the Chinese technology company Tencent. QQ offers services that provide online social games, music, shopping, microblogging, movies, and group and voice chat software. As of March 2023, there were 597 million monthly active QQ accounts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">OkCupid</span> American online dating service

OkCupid is a U.S.-based, internationally operating online dating, friendship, and formerly also a social networking website and application. It features multiple-choice questions to match members. Registration is free. OkCupid is owned by Match Group, which also owns Tinder, Hinge, Plenty of Fish, and many other popular dating apps and sites.

Evernote is a note-taking and task-management application developed by the Evernote Corporation. It is intended for archiving and creating notes with embedded photos, audio, and saved web content. Notes are stored in virtual "notebooks" and can be tagged, annotated, edited, searched, and exported.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">YouTube</span> Video-sharing and social media platform owned by Google

YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim, three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States, it is the second-most visited website in the world, after Google Search. In January 2024, YouTube had more than 2.7 billion monthly active users, who collectively watched more than one billion hours of videos every day. As of May 2019, videos were being uploaded to the platform at a rate of more than 500 hours of content per minute, and as of 2023, there were approximately 14 billion videos in total.

Badoo is a dating-focused social network founded by Russian entrepreneur Andrey Andreev in 2006. It is headquartered in Limassol, Cyprus and London, United Kingdom, with offices in Malta, Russia and the United States. It operates in 190 countries and is available in 47 languages, making it the world's most widely used dating network. The app is available on iOS, Android, and the web. Badoo operates on a freemium model, whereby the core services can be used without payment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outlook.com</span> Microsoft webmail service

Outlook.com, formerly Hotmail, is a free personal email service offered by Microsoft. This includes a webmail interface featuring mail, calendaring, contacts, and tasks services. Outlook can also be accessed via email clients using the IMAP or POP protocols.

This is a partial, non-exhaustive list of notable online dating websites and mobile apps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ITVX</span> British online video-on-demand service

ITVX is a British over-the-top and ad-supported streaming service operated by ITV plc. The service offers original content from the broadcaster, livestreams of the ITV television channels, FAST channels, and exclusive and licensed programming.

Andrey Andreev is a multinational tech entrepreneur. He is known for founding the dating and social networking apps Bumble and Badoo, amongst others. In 2019, Andreev sold the apps' holding company, MagicLab, to Blackstone at a $3 billion valuation. In 2020, he founded social audio app Stereo. His previous ventures include SpyLog, Begun, and Mamba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Docstoc</span> Defunct electronic document repository and online store

Docstoc was an electronic document repository and online store, aimed at providing professional, financial and legal documents for the business community. It closed in 2015. Users could upload, share and sell their own documents, or purchase professional documents written in-house by professionals and lawyers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tinder (app)</span> American online dating app

Tinder is an online dating and geosocial networking application launched in 2012. On Tinder, users "swipe right" to like or "swipe left" to dislike other users' profiles, which include their photos, a short bio, and some of their interests. Tinder uses a "double opt-in" system, also called "matching", where two users must like each other before they can exchange messages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newton (software)</span> Cross-platform e-mail application

Newton is an email management application for iOS, Android, MacOS, Windows and ChromeOS developed by CloudMagic, Inc. The application is known for its searching capabilities, cross-platform abilities and user interface. It has been referred to as an email client better than Gmail's native app. As from September 15, 2016, CloudMagic has been renamed to Newton Mail with premium services, adding a host of new features and functions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whitney Wolfe Herd</span> Founder and former CEO of Bumble (born 1989)

Whitney Wolfe Herd is an American entrepreneur. She is the founder, executive chair, and former CEO of publicly traded Bumble, an online dating platform, launched in 2014. She is a co-founder of Tinder and was previously its Vice President of Marketing.

YouTube Premium is a subscription service offered by the American video platform YouTube. The service provides ad-free access to content across the service, as well as access to premium YouTube Originals programming produced in collaboration with the site's creators, downloading videos and background playback of videos on mobile devices, and access to the music streaming service, YouTube Music, along with other benefits. It has over 100 million subscribers.

Bumble is an online dating and networking application launched in 2014. Profiles of potential matches are displayed to users, who can "swipe left" to reject a candidate or "swipe right" to indicate interest. The app is a product of Bumble Inc., founded by Whitney Wolfe Herd shortly after she left Tinder. Wolfe Herd has described Bumble as a "feminist dating app".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huggle (app)</span> Location-based social application

Huggle was a location-based social application which connected users based on commonality of places they frequent. The app was developed through a partnership with entrepreneur Andrey Andreev. Following a soft launch in 2015, it was officially launched in July 2016. It was acquired by Badoo in 2018. In 2020 Bumble decided it would no longer maintain the platform.

An online dating application, commonly known as a dating app, is an online dating service presented through a mobile phone application. These apps often take advantage of a smartphone's GPS location capabilities, always on-hand presence, and access to mobile wallets. These apps aim to speed up the online dating process of sifting through potential dating partners, chatting, flirting, and potentially meeting or becoming romantically involved.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hinge (app)</span> American online dating app

Hinge is an online dating application. The app displays potential matches one at a time and allows the user to dismiss or attempt to match by responding to a specific piece of content on their profile. The service emphasizes uploading user-generated content in a variety of formats, such as photos, videos, voice recordings, and "prompts" as a way to express personality and appearance. The app is fully owned by Match Group as of February 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pokémon Home</span> 2020 Pokémon storage app and game

Pokémon Home, stylized Pokémon HOME, is a free app for mobile and Nintendo Switch developed by ILCA and published by The Pokémon Company, part of the Pokémon series, released in February 2020. Its main use is providing cloud-based storage for Pokémon. It also contains the 'Global Trading System' (GTS) that was excluded from Pokémon games after Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, and provides the ability to transfer Pokémon from the previous storage system, Pokémon Bank for the Nintendo 3DS, as well as Pokémon Go, onto the Switch.

References

  1. "Why mature dating apps are coming of age". 2020-01-01. Retrieved 2024-11-29.
  2. "Meet Lumen, a dating app for singles over 50". 2020-01-01.
  3. Wiggins, Kaye; Kruppa, Miles (2019-11-08). "Blackstone buys Bumble and Badoo dating apps". Financial Times. Retrieved 2024-11-29.
  4. "PE Firm Blackstone's Epic Pump-n-Dump with Bumble now down to just a Mop-up Operation: Shares -94% since IPO Pop | Wolf Street". wolfstreet.com. Retrieved 2024-11-29.