Coffee Meet Bagel is an online dating portal based in San Francisco. It was founded in 2012 by three sisters Dawoon, Soo Kang, and Arum.
The dating site works like any other online dating service. It helps you find potential matches based on your Facebook profile. The company managed to collect funds of $600 thousand, led by Lightbank. They also received an investment from the co-founder of Match.com.
As of 2024, the estimated net worth of the company is $150 million. It is a successful dating site that motivates people who lost their faith in love.
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Quick Facts
| Business details: | Dating Portal |
| Founders name: | Dawoon, Soo Kang, and Arum |
| Founded in: | 2012 |
| Location (Country): | San Francisco |
| Investment Asked by Company | $500,000 For 5% equity |
| Sharks on board (Investors) | Mark Cuban |
| Accepted Deals: | Rejected |
| Shark Tank Episode: | Season 6 |
| Net Worth | $150 million |
| Business Status: | Active |
| Social Media | Instagram |
| Last Updated: | May 30, 2024 |
About the Founders
Coffee Meets Bagel is the creation of three sisters Soo Kang, Arum, and Dawoon who emigrated to the U.S. from Korea. All the sisters are highly qualified and attended top-notch universities in the U.S.
Dawoon completed her graduation from the Parsons School of Design, while Arum graduated from Stanford University. Soo Kang acquired her bachelor’s degree from Harvard University.
They decided to build a dating app to help people meet their potential match. They realized how difficult it was to meet new people in real life. So they wanted to make an innovative dating app to solve the problem. This is how Coffee Meets Bagel was found.
Despite having well-paying jobs in reputable companies, the three of them decided to have their own business. They quit their jobs to make the dating site a success.
Founding Coffee Meets Bagel
They set up their business in San Francisco, California. In a year, the dating site was ready. But they didn’t have enough capital to support their business. So they raised funds from different investors including Lightbank, and the co-founder of Match.com.
They finally launched the dating app in 2012. It was different from other dating apps as it curated users based on their Facebook profiles. It used a machine learning algorithm to find potential matches and candidates.
Coffee Meets Bagel became an instant hit and their business started booming. But they were losing millions of dollars every year. This is when they decided to seek help from angel investors.
Coffee Meets Bagel on Shark Tank
Arum, Soo, and Dawoon appeared on Shark Tank in 2015. They pitched their brand and proposed a deal of 5% equity for $500,000. The high valuation, raised tension between the Sharks.
Most Sharks saw the investment as too risky, except Mark Cuban. He offered them the entire brand for $30 million. But the sisters believed that the amount was too low compared to CMB’s potential.
Coffee Meets Bagel After Shark Tank
Although CMB failed to grab a deal on Shark Tank, it brought them heavy publicity. After the show, the founders raised funds from other investors. They managed to raise $23.2 million with five investment rounds.
Unfortunately, CMB was attacked in 2019, which led to a massive leak of user data. Although they recovered from the loss, they are struggling to get new users. The current valuation of the company is $150 million. But it might decrease in future.
Coffee Meets Bagel Premium
The premium or paid version of Coffee Meets Bagel comes with a hoard of features to enhance your dating game. Here’s a breakdown of what you get with a Premium membership:
- See All Your Likes at Once
Instead of waiting to see them one by one, you can view everyone who likes you in one go.
- Premium Preferences & Filters
It allows you to access and use advanced filters for more precise matching.
- Discover Likes
You can send up to eight likes per month in the Discover section without using any beans.
- Profile Boosts
You get three profile boosts each month.
- Unlimited Rewinds
With the premium version, you get unlimited rewinds to take back any passes or likes.
- Unlimited “Skip The Line”
It lets you prioritize your profile in popular bagels’ feeds as often as you want each day.
FAQs
1. Is Coffee Meets Bagel making a profit?
Initially, Coffee meets Bagel was not gaining enough traction and profitability but the company has now partnered with Braavo and that has significantly kicked up their profits.
2. Who is the owner of Coffee Meets Bagel?
The founders of Coffee Meets Bagel are three sisters, Arum Kang, Dawoon Kang, and Soo Kang. They aimed to change the dating landscape and make this more interactive and fun.
3. How much did Mark offer Coffee Meets Bagel?
After Shark Tank, Mark wanted to acquire Coffee Meets Bagel and offered $30 million for the company but the sisters turned down the offer.
