Flirtic.com, a dating service designed for the social media generation, announced yesterday that it has raised a venture round from Almaz Capital Partners to finance a roll out into English and Russian-speaking markets.
The financial details of this funding are not disclosed yet, but the young Tallinn-based company has also appointed April Henry, the Senior Vice President of Myspace, as an Independent Board Member.
Flirtic.com aims to make dating more social and flirtatious, giving users the ability to express themselves more easily in order to find their perfect match. Flirtic incorporates some of the most popular and addictive features of social networks, including messaging, wall posting, “likes” and entertaining games and quizzes. These features make it even easier for shy or cautious users easy to engage with new people, break the ice and start conversations. Thankfully Flirtic.com doesn’t require users to complete any long or boring questionnaires; instead, users can set up their dynamic profile by playing interactive games and by taking quick, entertaining tests.
April Henry, an Independent Board Member of Flirtic, said: “Old forms of dating no longer work for young people who have grown up using social media to stay in touch. They’re unwilling to answer endless questions to create their profile, or to endure hours of scanning boring, one-dimensional profiles to find someone they’d like to meet. Flirtic.com has found a way to inject the playfulness of social networking into online dating to make it more flirtatious and fun again. With 30% of Flirtic users returning every day, it’s clear that this is exactly what the audience was waiting for.”
Flirtic, which targets the 18-35 year old online dating audience, launched in Estonia and Russia in early 2011 where it quickly showed user traction. Flirtic.com will roll-out in English and Russian-speaking markets over the coming months.
The startup is led by the team of Estonian entrepreneurs behind Rate Solutions, one of the leading social networking companies in the Baltic countries. Its shareholders include Andrei Korobeinik and Evgeny Pshenichnikov, serial entrepreneurs and founders of Rate Solutions, as well as technology investment company MTVP and angel investor Jaak Roosipuu. The team was also recently strengthened by the addition of Nicola Riordan, who will assist Flirtic in marketing to build traction and acquire new users. Nicola previously led marketing for TweetDeck and headed up product and customer journey marketing at Skype.
Andres Susi, CEO of Flirtic, is also a successful entrepreneur. He co-founded Cherry Media, a large daily deal company within Baltic States, and previously held the role of CEO at Playforia, a leading online gaming company in Finland and Baltic States.
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