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
International Human Rights Lawyer Jared Genser and Former White House Counsel Lanny J. Davis Join Legal and Advocacy Team Supporting Cambodian Businessman Yim Leak, Seiden Law LLP Announces18.9.2026 19:52:00 CEST | Press release
Jared Genser, one of the world's most recognized international human rights lawyers, and Lanny J. Davis, an adviser to former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, join the legal and advocacy team for Cambodian businessman Yim Leak and challenge what they call a coordinated smear campaign in Thailand. International human rights lawyer Jared Genser and Lanny J. Davis, who has close ties to two former US presidents and a worldwide reputation for defending those under attack with lies and smears, and for repairing the damage done to their reputations, have joined the legal and advocacy team supporting Cambodian businessman Yim Leak, Seiden Law LLP, which serves as Yim Leak's chief global counsel, announced today. Their first move is to hold the Thai government accountable, framing its conduct as either complicit in or willfully blind to a sustained smear campaign against Yim. Genser is Managing Director of Perseus Strategies, an international law firm. Over more than two decades, he
Ningbo FEED Meeting Confirms Full Confidence in Q1 2027 FID for Allied Biofuels’ US$6.1 Billion Presidential Decree-Backed SAF and e-SAF Project18.9.2026 17:38:00 CEST | Press release
Allied Biofuels has held a major Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) meeting at Sinopec’s office in Ningbo, China, bringing together Allied Biofuels, Sinopec Engineering Group Co., Ltd. of China, Topsoe A/S of Denmark, Sasol South Africa Limited, and Plug Power of the United States — the principal international engineering and technology providers supporting its US$6.1 billion Presidential Decree-backed Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and e-SAF project in Uzbekistan. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260918708077/en/ FEED Meeting - Ningbo, China At the joint FEED meeting of the project’s core engineering and technology stakeholders, the discussions established clear alignment on engineering responsibilities, technology interfaces, design deliverables, project integration and the coordinated execution programme required to advance the project through FEED. All stakeholders working on the project expressed full co
Corcept Announces CHMP Opinion Recommending EU Marketing Authorization for Lifyorli® (Relacorilant)18.9.2026 14:00:00 CEST | Press release
Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated (NASDAQ: CORT), a commercial-stage company engaged in the discovery and development of medications to treat severe endocrinologic, oncologic, metabolic and neurologic disorders by modulating the effects of the hormone cortisol, today announced that the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has recommended that the European Commission (EC) should approve relacorilant, combined with the chemotherapy drug nab-paclitaxel, for the treatment of patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. The CHMP’s recommendation is based on positive data from Corcept’s Phase 2 and pivotal Phase 3 ROSELLA trials, in which patients receiving relacorilant combined with nab-paclitaxel experienced improved progression-free and overall survival compared to patients who received nab-paclitaxel alone. The safety profile of relacorilant plus nab-paclitaxel in these trials was consistent with the safety profile of nab-paclitaxel monoth
Enhertu® Recommended for Approval in the EU by CHMP as Adjuvant Treatment for Patients with Residual Disease After Neoadjuvant Treatment for HER2 Positive Early Breast Cancer18.9.2026 14:00:00 CEST | Press release
Recommendation based on DESTINY-Breast05 phase 3 trial results that showed Enhertu reduced the risk of invasive disease recurrence or death by 53% versus T-DM1 Daiichi Sankyo and AstraZeneca’s Enhertu has the potential to become a new standard of care in this early breast cancer setting Enhertu® (trastuzumab deruxtecan) has been recommended for approval in the European Union (EU) as a monotherapy for the adjuvant treatment of adult patients with resected HER2 positive breast cancer who have residual invasive disease after neoadjuvant taxane-based and HER2 targeted treatment. Enhertu is a specifically engineered HER2 directed DXd antibody drug conjugate (ADC) discovered by Daiichi Sankyo (TSE: 4568) and being jointly developed and commercialized by Daiichi Sankyo and AstraZeneca (LSE/STO/NYSE: AZN). The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) based its positive opinion on results from the DESTINY-Breast05 phase 3 trial presented at th
CHMP Recommends EU Approval of New Indication for Alfasigma’s Jyseleca® (filgotinib), Treatment of Adults With Axial Spondyloarthritis18.9.2026 12:58:00 CEST | Press release
The information contained within this press release is for the purpose of scientific exchange.It is intended for scientific, financial and investor media only.If approved, Jyselecawill be indicated for the treatment of patients with active axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), both non-radiographic and radiographic forms of the disease, who have responded inadequately to conventional therapy.Despite the availability of multiple treatment options, nearly half of people living with axSpA do not respond adequately to current therapies, and just 10-20% reach inactive disease within 16-24 weeks of initiating treatment.CHMP’s positive opinion is based on findings from the OLINGUITO Phase 3 study, where improvements in the signs and symptoms of axSpA with filgotinib were observed early and maintained over 52 weeks of treatment.Jyselecais already approved in Europe and the United Kingdom, for the treatment of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis and ulcerative colitis. Alfasigma S.p.A, a global
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