Thailand-based dating app platform Noonswoon is planning to raise a second seed fund in April, next year. The startup that has been operating its successful mobile dating application since December 2012, is preparing to go regional, with the funds raised from second seed financing.
The new fund is expected to be around $400,000, similar to the first seed funding amount, which was provided by its lead investor Golden Gate Ventures, Noonswoon’s managing director Kavin Asavanant told DEALSTREETASIA.
“We are talking with investors to propose our business plan. For the next step, we would like to launch Noonswoon in other capital cities in Asia, such as Kuala Lumpur, Taipei, Hong Kong, Singapore, Jakarta and Manila. This big move will require us to raise the new fund,” he said.
The fund will be spent on hiring more staff and developing new features, which will help users understand themselves better so that they can choose right people.
Noonswoon is a combination of two words, “noon” and “swoon”, as it selects and delivers one contact person to users at noon every day.
“We are different from other matchmaker service because our application was developed keeping in mind the Asian culture, which is less open than westerners. We feel more comfortable with someone who is linked to us – such as a friend of friend – rather than complete strangers. That’s a reason why we require our users to sign up with their facebook accounts,” he explained.
Currently, the app has around 100,000 users, and a market share of 10-15 per cent in its target group in Thailand. The company aims to increase the number of users to about 40-50 per cent of the target group in 2015.
So far, the scope of Noonswoon is somewhere between a match-maker and a friend-maker. However, the company is thinking about launching Noonswoon Premium, a new channel that will arrange active dating for those who seek the right person and expect a serious relationship.
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