Sean Rad’s Tinder is growing rapidly and looking to Europe for new opportunities. With that we’re excited to have him speak on expanding to international markets in a few weeks at Disrupt Europe.
In 2009, Sean Rad co-founded Adly, a marketing platform that connects brands with celebrities and influencers to help them increase their footprint and reach their customers on social media. The company has since gone on to raise $7.3 million and work with some of the biggest brands in the world. Tired of the rejection and creepiness of most dating sites, Rad decided to start his own.
He and co-founders Justin Mateen, Jonathan Badeen, and Christopher Gulczynski launched Tinder to create a mobile-centric, modern dating experience. Incubated and backed by IAC — the same Barry Diller-led media giant that today owns OkCupid and Match.com — Tinder’s addictive Hot or Not-style discovery and flirting experience seen it catch fire since it launched last October.
Today, users are making one billion profile ratings and 15 million matches every week, and looking to capitalize on this growth, Tinder has big expansion plans. The LA-based company has begun to move into Europe and Asia, with plans to expand its scope beyond dating with professional matchmaking and is going cross-channel with media partnerships.
Sean will be at Disrupt Berlin to share the latest from Tinder, and how he plans to turn a hot dating app into a worldwide business.
Europe offers its own opportunities for startups. But also pitfalls unique to the region. We’ve lined up some of the best entrepreneurs, founders and investors to speak at Disrupt Europe on the challenges and potential rewards about running a startup in Europe. Tickets are currently available.