The Meet Group

The Meet Group, Inc.
MeetMe logo
Type of businessPublic
Type of site
Social networking service
Available inEnglish, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Chinese, Russian, Japanese, Korean, Dutch, Turkish, Malay, Indonesian.
Traded asNasdaq: MEET (2014–2020)
FoundedApril 2005; 19 years ago (2005-04) (as MyYearbook)
Headquarters
New Hope, Pennsylvania
,
U.S.
OwnerProSiebenSat.1 Media
Founder(s)Geoff Cook
David Cook
Catherine Cook
ParentParshipMeet Group
URLwww.themeetgroup.com
AdvertisingBanner ads, custom ads
RegistrationRequired
Current statusActive
Written inPHP

The Meet Group, Inc. (formerly MeetMe) owns several dating app networking services including MeetMe, hi5, LOVOO, Growlr, Skout, and Tagged. The company has offices in New Hope, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Dresden, and Berlin.

History

The myYearbook logo, which was used from 2005 to 2012

Two siblings, Dave and Catherine Cook, created myYearbook during their Spring break of 2005. They persuaded their older brother Geoff, who had founded EssayEdge and ResumeEdge from his Harvard dorm room, to invest in their project. At the launch of the site, Dave was a junior in high school and Catherine was a sophomore; the project was initially activated at Montgomery High School, in suburban New Jersey where they attended. The site was created entirely by workers in India.[1]

In 2006, myYearbook raised $4.1 million from U.S. Venture Partners and First Round Capital. In 2008, it raised $13 million in a Series B round.[2]

In July 2011, myYearbook announced it had agreed to be acquired by Latino social networking site Quepasa.[3][4][5] In June 2012, the company formed from the combination of myYearbook and Quepasa was renamed MeetMe.[6]

In October 2016, MeetMe acquired Skout for $55 million.[7][8]

On April 3, 2017, the company acquired if(we) and rebranded to The Meet Group.[9]

In September 2017, Meet Group acquired German dating app Lovoo[10][11] for $70 million USD.

In 2020, The Meet Group was acquired by ProSiebenSat.1 Media with a parent company, ParshipMeet Group, being formed to manage both The Meet Group and Parship.[12][13]

In 2022, Tumblr announced its livestreaming service Tumblr Live, based on The Meet Group's product Livebox.[14] In 2024, Tumblr announced that they would be discontinuing Tumblr Live as of January 24, with options for users to migrate to MeetMe.[15]

See also

References

  1. ^ Olsen, Stefanie (16 August 2007). "The secrets of a teen's Internet success". CNET.
  2. ^ Kincaid, Jason (July 30, 2008). "Teen Social Network myYearbook Gets $13 Million". TechCrunch.
  3. ^ "MyYearbook bought by Latino social network Quepasa". TechCrunch. 20 July 2011.
  4. ^ Kim, Ryan (July 20, 2011). "Latino social network Quepasa swallows MyYearbook". Reuters.
  5. ^ KIRPALANI, RESHMA (July 21, 2011). "New Jersey Siblings Net $100 Million for myYearbook Sale". ABC News.
  6. ^ Ha, Anthony (June 5, 2012). "Quepasa, MyYearbook Complete Rebranding As MeetMe, Will Start Trading Today As MEET". TechCrunch.
  7. ^ "MeetMe Announces Closing of Skout Acquisition" (Press release). Business Wire. October 4, 2016.
  8. ^ Yeung, Ken (June 27, 2016). "MeetMe acquires mobile flirting app Skout for $55 million in cash and stock". VentureBeat.
  9. ^ "MeetMe Announces Closing of if(we) Acquisition and Rebrands to The Meet Group" (Press release). Business Wire. April 3, 2017.
  10. ^ Lovoo
  11. ^ Butcher, Mike (September 20, 2017). "German dating app Lovoo is acquired for $70M by The Meet Group". TechCrunch.
  12. ^ Nicola, Stefan (March 5, 2020). "ProSieben to Buy Dating Firm Meet Group in Tough TV Market". Bloomberg News.
  13. ^ "The Meet Group Announces Closing of Acquisition by eharmony Parent Company Parship Group" (Press release). Business Wire. September 4, 2020.
  14. ^ King, Ashley (2022-12-21). "Tumblr Joins Livestreaming Band Wagon with New Service". Digital Music News. Retrieved 2023-09-30.
  15. ^ "Tumblr Live Is Shutting Down - Help Center". Tumblr Help Center. Retrieved 11 January 2024.