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
DEWA International Launched as a Wholly Owned Independent Subsidiary of DEWA to Develop Global Energy and Water Projects9.7.2026 18:07:00 CEST | Press release
HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, announced the establishment of ‘DEWA International’, a wholly owned independent subsidiary of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA). The company aims to develop conventional and clean energy projects worldwide and export Dubai’s successful energy and water infrastructure model to global markets. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260709099653/en/ DEWA International launched as a wholly owned independent subsidiary of DEWA to develop global energy and water projects (Photo: AETOSWire) HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said: “Thanks to the vision and directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, Dubai has become a global model for achievement and accelerated development. Through its world-class infrastructure, particularly in the energy
Echodyne Opens New Manufacturing Facility to Meet Surging Global Demand for Advanced MESA® Radar9.7.2026 15:00:00 CEST | Press release
New Washington State facility provides capacity to manufacture more than 30,000 radars annually, strengthening the U.S. defense industrial base As governments around the world accelerate investment in counter-unmanned aircraft systems (C-UAS) and short-range air defense, Echodyne today announced the opening of a new advanced radar manufacturing facility in Washington State, significantly expanding its manufacturing capacity to meet rapidly growing demand from U.S. and allied customers. With millions of drones manufactured and used by both sides in the Russian War in Ukraine, the need for enhanced safety for defense, national security, and critical infrastructure assets grows with every successful strike and interception. The low cost and high utility of drones dramatically alters the need for safety and security sensors. And as the low altitude economy takes off, hundreds of thousands of drones will perform a range of life-saving and commercial missions, requiring a sensor infrastructu
Orca Security Report: 99.9% of Fixable AI Vulnerabilities Remain Unpatched as AI Moves Into Production9.7.2026 15:00:00 CEST | Press release
Analysis of more than 1,200 production cloud environments provides a first-hand view into how organizations are embedding AI into business-critical workflows, exposing new security risks that traditional controls weren't built to address. Orca Security, a leader in cloud and AI security, today released its 2026 State of AI Security Report, offering a first-hand view into how AI is being deployed across more than 1,200 production cloud environments. The findings show AI is no longer limited to isolated pilots or developer experiments. Organizations are embedding AI into production applications, cloud services, and autonomous workflows faster than security programs can adapt. More than half (56%) of organizations have already deployed AI agents into production, while 51% use AI to build custom applications. At the same time, Orca found that 81% of organizations run vulnerable AI packages, and 99.9% of fixable AI vulnerabilities remain unpatched, highlighting how quickly AI has become ope
Viz.ai Expands into Neurodegenerative Disease with Cortechs.ai Collaboration9.7.2026 15:00:00 CEST | Press release
Cortechs.ai and Viz.ai partner to tackle multiple sclerosis and other neurodegenerative diseases across Viz.ai's health system network Viz.ai, the leader in AI-powered disease detection and intelligent care coordination, today announced a collaboration with Cortechs.ai, a global leader in neuroimaging and quantitative analysis solutions, to integrate Cortechs.ai's NeuroQuant and NeuroQuant MS suite into the Viz.ai platform, expanding access to quantitative neuroimaging for hospitals and health systems across the U.S. This partnership marks Viz.ai's expansion into neurodegenerative disease, growing Viz Neuro Suite beyond its already market-leading neuro offerings. The collaboration will begin with a focus on multiple sclerosis (MS), integrating quantitative MRI analysis from NeuroQuant MS directly into Viz.ai's care coordination workflow, giving clinicians both the quantitative precision and the coordination infrastructure needed to identify and manage MS patients at scale. “Viz.ai's co
SCP Standard Capital Partners AG: Fabian Becker Appointed Chairman of the Management Board and CEO9.7.2026 14:51:00 CEST | Press release
The Supervisory Board of SCP Standard Capital Partners AG (WKN: A12UPJ | ISIN: DE000A12UPJ7 | XETRA ticker: CAP) resolved today to appoint Mr. Fabian Becker as Chairman of the Management Board and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective as of 9 July 2026. Ms. Stephanie Schettler-Köhler will remain a member of the Management Board and will assume the role of Chief Operating Officer (COO). View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260709982268/en/
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