SMITTEN
15.9.2022 13:02:36 CEST | Business Wire | Press release
Dating app Smitten has raised a $10M Series A from Makers Fund, Possible Ventures, Wonder Invest and current shareholders ByFounders, ProFounders, Tennin, and Smitten's board member and Vivino founder Heini Zachariassen. Smitten, the most popular dating app in Iceland and the second most popular in Denmark, will use the financing to grow its team and to expand to new markets as they woo Gen Zers with their fresh, gamified approach to dating.
“My co-founder, Asgeir, and I share an intense interest in how people connect and communicate,” says David Simonarson, Smitten Co-Founder and CEO. “After years of creating social consumer apps, we fell in love with the online dating space and launched Smitten in 2020. We created personality-based games and fun interactive profiles to make it easy for strangers to form meaningful connections. Seeing how much our users love Smitten, we believe we can become the leading player in online dating for Generation Z.”
Smitten is founded by David Simonarson, CEO, and Asgeir Visir, Designer, and was released by the founders and its CTO, Magnus Olafsson. Smitten mixes games, entertainment, and flirting to jumpstart conversations and help users engage more seamlessly. Smitten's fun and creative approach to dating has struck a chord with Gen Zers, proven by the app’s more than 200 million swipes to date and whopping 30%+ stickiness rate. Most dating apps leave people to convert a match into a conversation with awkward starts that lead nowhere. Smitten makes getting into a conversation as easy as swiping through use of games, interactive profiles and icebreakers. Smitten gets users into fun, quality conversations regardless of their conversation skills, and has found that more than 60% of Smitten matches result in a post-match interaction vs 11% on industry-leading app, Tinder*.
The key to Smitten’s post-match interactions are mini-games people can play on each other’s profiles. “Our questionnaire game, Guessary, allows you to get to know the other person you are viewing by guessing how they answered a series of Yes-and-No questions,” explained Asgeir Visir, Smitten Co-Founder and Designer. “You could be answering questions like ‘Have they ever been arrested?’ or ‘Do they like pineapple on their pizza?’ and you would get immediate feedback if you answered correctly or not. Another fun game, Lie Detector, is inspired by the age-old social game Two Truths and Lie, where people add three statements about themselves to their profile, and you have one chance to spot the lie. These games are designed for users to get to know the person they are viewing before deciding if they want to like them or not. And the beautiful part is when you match with someone, the results of the games are posted in the chat and act as an icebreaker, making it so much easier to initiate a fun conversation.”
“Social discovery and gaming is an increasingly interesting intersection, and the team at Smitten have created an amazingly fun experience that truly strikes a chord with young adults,” said Alli Ottarson, Makers' lead on the deal. “Having spent time building a strong relationship with the founders David and Ásgeir, we have been privileged to a front row seat to follow Smitten´s success. We share a common vision for how the next generation will meet and interact, and we’re thrilled to be a part of the Smitten journey."
To learn more about Smitten, please visit smittendating.com.
ABOUT SMITTEN
Smitten is on a mission to make the most fun dating app in the world. Through creative, unique profile games and entertaining content, Smitten transforms how people view online dating. While operating at the intersection of dating, gaming, and entertainment, Smitten gives its users superpowers by making it as easy as swiping to get into a fun and meaningful conversation. Smitten outperforms the industry-leading dating app regarding post-match interactions, with more than 60% of matches progressing to some interaction. Smitten is founded in Iceland by co-founders David Orn Simonarson, CEO, and Asgeir Visir, UX Designer. The seasoned duo has been working together creating social apps to connect people for the past ten years. The team's mission is to create the most fun dating app in the world.
*per research at https://arxiv.org/abs/1607.01952
About Makers Fund
Makers Fund is a global interactive entertainment venture capital firm focused on early-stage investments. Makers is dedicated to furthering growth and innovation in the interactive entertainment industry. With more than 90 portfolio companies to date, Makers provides founders strategic value that is deeply catered to companies across the value chain in the industry. For more information, visit makersfund.com.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220915005317/en/
About Business Wire
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
The LYCRA Company Makes NSC Safety Congress & Expo Debut10.9.2026 19:45:00 CEST | Press release
Highlights Innovative Fibers That Enhance Worker Comfort, Performance, and Protection The LYCRA Company, a global leader in developing fiber and technology solutions for the apparel and personal care industries, today announced its inaugural exhibition at the NSC Safety Congress & Expo, being held September 14-16 in Indianapolis. The company also marks the North American debut of its “FIBERS THATWORK” portfolio of innovative solutions for workwear, uniforms, and protective apparel. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260910402207/en/ The LYCRA Company will debut its FIBERS THAT WORK portfolio at the NSC Safety Congress & Expo in Indianapolis, highlighting fiber technologies engineered to enhance comfort, durability, visibility, and protection in workwear and protective apparel. "Comfort is fundamental to workwear performance," said Tara Maurer-Mackay, product category director, branded specialty products at The LY
Turning Up the Heat: ProAmpac Helps Power Circle K’s Flamin’ Hot® Boneless Chicken Wings Launch10.9.2026 18:12:00 CEST | Press release
ProAmpac, a global leader in flexible packaging and material science, is proud to announce its role in supporting Circle K's launch of Flamin' Hot® Boneless Chicken Wings, created in partnership with PepsiCo/Frito-Lay. Designed to address key challenges in hot food packaging, ProAmpac's custom fiber-based tray helps maintain food quality, improve shelf appeal, and enhance the consumer experience. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260910495607/en/ Flamin' Hot Chicken Bites Circle K sought a better way to merchandise its Flamin’ Hot® Boneless Chicken Wings while addressing several performance challenges, including heat retention, moisture loss, and grease resistance, while extending hot hold time. ProAmpac responded with a custom tray designed specifically for the recipe and portion size, demonstrating its flexibility in meeting unique customer design and performance requirements. Working from PepsiCo’s initial br
Record Currency Management wins new FX Alpha and Frontier Market mandates10.9.2026 17:30:00 CEST | Press release
Record Currency Management Ltd (RCM), a subsidiary of London-listed Record plc (Record Financial Group), is pleased to announce that it has been awarded two new mandates of strategic importance – an FX Alpha mandate and an FX Frontier mandate. RCM is the UK currency management arm of Record Financial Group, the London-listed specialist investment group managing over USD 122 billion of assets on behalf of institutional clients worldwide. Record’s client base comprises pension funds, foundations, sovereign institutions and other asset managers, with whom the Group has built long-standing relationships through its focus on bespoke investment and risk management solutions. Headquartered in London, Record has offices in Hamburg, Zurich, Zug, New York, and Hong Kong. For institutional investors, currency can represent both a source of risk and a potential source of differentiated returns. Live since 2012, Record’s FX Alpha strategy aims to deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns without cap
Azizi Developments Introduces USD 8.1 Billion Master-Planned Community Azizi Florence in Sharjah10.9.2026 16:08:00 CEST | Press release
Azizi Developments, a leading private developer in the UAE, is unveiling Azizi Florence, a USD 8.1 billion master-planned community marking its first project in Sharjah. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260910091949/en/ Azizi Florence (Photo: AETOSWire) The freehold development will feature 1,130 villas, more than 6,000 townhouses and 3,500 apartments, with three-bedroom townhouses starting from USD 515,000 at USD 231 per square foot of sellable area. Designed as an integrated destination, Azizi Florence will bring together residential, retail, hospitality, education, leisure and wellness offerings, centred around a 1.7-million-square-foot Central Park. Six residential clusters will each feature a park, clubhouse, community centre and landscaped gardens. Mr. Mirwais Azizi, Founder and Chairman of Azizi Group, said: “Returning to Sharjah after more than three decades is deeply meaningful to me, as this emirate w
Agentic Crypto Payments Have Surged by 500%1 in the Last Three Months, Crypto Compliance Must Become Agentic Too10.9.2026 15:53:00 CEST | Press release
Elliptic is publishing eight principles for governing agentic on-chain risk: the Elliptic Standard Elliptic,the global leader in on-chain risk, today published the Elliptic Standard: eight principles for governing agentic on-chain risk. Elliptic has been at the intersection of financial crime and on-chain finance since 2013, long enough to recognize the shift to agentic transactions as a defining inflection point in financial crime risk, and to be the first to define what governing it demands. On-chain finance is now running at agentic speed. Machines are originating, authorizing and settling transactions at a volume no human team can review. Illicit actors are using AI to evade detection at a speed and volume that manual processes cannot track. Models built around human review were never designed for this world. They are already overwhelmed. Three forces are driving this shift. First, autonomous agents are increasingly the counterparty on both sides of a transaction, not just people i
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom