(Online Dating Industry Journal) Seattle-based Icebreaker, Inc. (with offices in Beijing, China) received $7.2 million earlier this month to help fund its mobile dating and social network software. IceBreaker will use the funds to drive consumer marketing, new product development and expansion of its Beijing research and development office.
The funding is directed at further development and growth of a specific application called Crush or Flush. Crush or Flush provides mobile opportunities for people to flirt, chat, or meet in person. The application and service first launched just over four months ago and now has more than 150,000 members.
Members create picture profiles with tags and personal descriptions so that others can see who they are and what their interests are. Members then browse picture profiles by gender, age, location, and interest. If they find someone they like, they 'crush' them. If not, they 'flush' them. When two people like each other, they are notified of their mutual crush and can send anonymous text messages to each other without giving up any of their personal information. Further contact is up to them.
Silicon Valley's Lightspeed Venture Partners was a major investor in the new funding.
"It's a pleasure to reinvest in IceBreaker," said Jake Seid, General Partner of Lightspeed Venture Partners. "Since the last round of funding, the company successfully brought Crush or Flush to market proving that there's pent up demand for connecting people through the world's most ubiquitous device."
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