eDarling

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eDarling

logo
legal form GmbH
founding November 2008
Online since May 1, 2009
Seat Kohlfurter Strasse 41/43, 10999 Berlin
management Gitte Bendzulla, Bert Althaus
Number of employees 300 (as of January 2015)
Branch media
Website https://www.edarling.de

eDarling is an online dating agency based in Berlin . eDarling was one of the major providers from Germany just four years after it was launched in May 2009. One of the investors is the Rocket Internet incubator .

history

The operator is Spark Networks GmbH. It was founded in November 2008 by Lukas Brosseder and David Khalil with the help of the Rocket Internet incubator. The offer started on May 6, 2009 in Germany and has so far been expanded to a further 24 countries on four continents. This makes eDarling a laggard in the online dating agency market . In June 2011, the online dating site Betterdate was launched as a further Spark brand and renamed Shopaman in November 2012 .

In the course of its three-year existence in May 2012, eDarling published business figures for the first time. eDarling is considered to be “the attacker in the market”, which is also attributed to the “potent investors”. eDarling is mentioned repeatedly in connection with Oliver Samwer , but the company emphasizes its independence from the controversial personality.

facts and figures

eDarling is one of the four leading online dating agencies in Germany. The estimated number of members is around 2.6 million registered members in Germany and around 14 million in Europe. The ratio of male to female members is 47 to 53%. For 2011, eDarling reports a turnover of over 36 million euros. Since 2012, annual sales are said to have been around 50 million euros. The success rate is estimated at around 40%.

The operator of eDarling is Affinitas GmbH, whose investors include the Incubator Rocket Internet, Holtzbrinck Ventures and the Investitionsbank Berlin .

In addition to Germany, the company is represented in 24 other markets: Australia, Belgium, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Finland, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Poland, Russia, Switzerland, Sweden , Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, the Czech Republic and Hungary. In October 2012, eDarling expanded its offering outside of Europe for the first time and started in Chile and Mexico, as eDarling believes these countries are the most promising markets in Latin America. In addition, the existing Spanish team was able to take over most of the initial tasks during the adaptation. Affinitas has been running Elite Singles, an online dating service in Great Britain since July 2013, where it is active for the first time alongside its former investor eHarmony.

eDarling started in 2009 in a highly competitive market. Accordingly, in January 2010 an industry insider headlined the entry of investor Eharmony "eDarling is running out of steam". In May 2012, eDarling announced its business activity figures for the first time. Accordingly, eDarling achieved sales of 50 million euros and a slightly positive EBITDA for 2012 . According to the then managing director Kai Rieke, Edarling sees itself on a further growth path, while competitors have already had to lay off employees. Sales rumors were circulating in May 2012, which eDarling denied. In January 2013, Handelsblatt presented eDarling as one of the ten best start-ups.

In May 2013, eDarling announced that all institutional investors, the management and a large part of the business angels had bought back the shares of eHarmony. At the same time, the managing director Christian Vollmann resigned . His successor was Michael Schrezenmaier, who had been CFO at eDarling since September 2012 and who now manages the company's fortunes together with Lukas Brosseder and David Khalil.

service

eDarling mediates partner seekers with the help of so-called matching . The user must first complete a personality test, which comprises 283 questions. The test is based on the scientific model of personality psychology, the so-called Big Five personality model , and records basic personality structures, such as conscientiousness and openness to new things. In addition, the test asks about expectations of a relationship, for example whether there is a desire to have children. A mathematical algorithm uses the results of the personality test and basic demographic data to calculate compatible partners. In addition, the user can define their own search criteria, such as age, size and distance from home. Every day the user receives the partner suggestions he has determined. Users are only given 5–7 suggestions when they first register, eDarling does not want to force users to go through hundreds of profiles.

At the end of 2012, eDarling announced that it would also offer on-site advice. They also want to pick up customers offline and introduce another marketing tool. The test market will initially be limited to Berlin.

Membership and Cost

Registration, the personality test with the personal test result and the basic membership with limited usage options are free of charge, as with the competitors. However, in order to be able to use all the partner search functions and write contact messages at eDarling, a paid premium membership is required. This is offered in terms of three, six or twelve months and is automatically extended if the premium membership is not canceled; the monthly price is € 64.90, € 45.90 and € 29.90, respectively. The automatic renewal is criticized in dating agencies, but corresponds to the practice of many offers.

According to Brand Eins , eDarling creates special offers to compensate for gender imbalances, for example. According to the magazine, companies also carry out corresponding AB tests to test the price sensitivity of customers.

Security and contract terms

In the summer of 2010, eDarling received the Safer Shopping seal from TÜV Süd . Over 100 individual criteria are checked for the award of this seal, including the protection of personal data.

In May 2012, eDarling, together with Friendscout24 , Neu.de and Parship , initiated the “Code for Serious Partner Searching on the Net” ( SPIN Code ), which is supposed to ensure more transparency and fairness in the search for partners. The voluntary self-commitment makes, among other things, specifications for the contractual conditions. In the case of an automatic renewal, the contract term must not be longer than the originally selected term or the notice period must not exceed seven days. Compliance with the code is checked by the Bundesverband Digitale Wirtschaft eV (BVDW) .

Science connection

An estimated five million members in Europe answer the eDarling Scientific Personality Test each year. Since 2011, eDarling has made parts of this dataset available to international scientists for research purposes. A research network was founded, which u. a. consists of researchers from the Humboldt University in Berlin, the University of Southampton in Great Britain, the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and Duke University in the USA. Psychological and sociological issues are examined on the basis of these anonymized data sets and published in scientific journals. The results are also presented at international conferences and specialist meetings and discussed among experts. Gebauer et al. examined, among other things, the attractiveness of first names in the context of partner choice and the moderating effect of culture in the connection between religiosity and psychological well-being. Both studies are in print in the high-ranking psychological journals Psychological Science and Social Psychological and Personality Science and have been discussed in Spiegel Online and in ZEIT. The studies also received attention in the international press. Research at eDarling is carried out by Wiebke Neberich, who has a doctorate in psychology and who has researched the subject of distance regulation in relationships at the Humboldt University in Berlin.

criticism

eDarling came under public criticism from August 2009 onwards due to 1 euro trial subscriptions and the lack of transparency in the right to cancel. The trial offer for new customers could only be canceled by post or fax and, if not canceled, entailed a one-year subscription. The dating agency responded to the criticism in October 2009 and stopped this type of trial subscription. EDarling tried to solve the problem of termination with a free termination hotline.

reviews

eDarling has been awarded the Safer Shopping seal of approval by TÜV Süd since 2010 . Computer Bild named eDarling the test winner in issue 08/2010. In its October 2010 issue, the computer magazine PC News gave it a rating of very good for the price-performance ratio .

In a comparison test by Stiftung Warentest , eDarling received the rating satisfactory , although the terms and conditions were heavily criticized, which led to a devaluation.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c edarling.de ( Memento of the original from March 20, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 299 kB) edarling factsheet  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.edarling.de
  2. ↑ a b c d The three leading online dating agencies in Germany on singleboersen-vergleich.de
  3. ↑ a b Website of Rocket Internet , a holding company owned by the brothers Marc, Oliver and Alexander Samwer .
  4. ↑ a b gruenderszene.de Profile of edarling at gruenderszene.de
  5. ↑ edarling.de. Press release Start betterDate
  6. ↑ Gründerszene November 15, 2012 Women buy men from Shopaman
  7. ↑ a b German Startups December 5, 2012 “Trying things out and reacting flexibly is part of entrepreneurship” - David Khalil from eDarling
  8. ↑ edarling.de From late bloomer to high flyer
  9. ↑ eDarling infographic for the three-year existence ( memento from March 9, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) on deutsche-startups.de
  10. ^ Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung September 4, 2011 Fight for every single
  11. ↑ Financial Times July 22, 2011 ( Memento from February 11, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) Dating on the net: War among the love portals
  12. ↑ Quick money with sex and longing. In: Handelsblatt. September 19, 2011.
  13. ↑ Handelsblatt June 22nd, 2012 Is the Samwer mesh reaching its limits?
  14. ↑ The Murks Brothers In: Manager Magazin. February 18, 2011.
  15. ↑ deutsche-startups.de May 23, 2012 Founder! We have moved away from the rocket focus - Christian Vollmann from eDarling
  16. ↑ gruenderszene.de June 28, 2011 We haven't seen the Samwers here for a long time.
  17. ↑ a b focus.de May 24, 2012
  18. ↑ Berliner Zeitung May 16, 2012 Die Liebesdiener
  19. ↑ website of Rocket Internet
  20. ↑ gruenderszene.de eDarling is running out of breath
  21. ↑ Bunga-Bunga-Business In: Wirtschaftswoche from November 9, 2011.
  22. ↑ Focus May 13, 2012 Samwer brothers fail with the sale of eDarling
  23. ↑ gruenderszene.de May 15, 2012 Edarling: There were no sales plans
  24. ↑ Die Kuppler (Handelsblatt 3/2013, p. 47)
  25. ↑ zu-zweit.de May 15, 2013 Change at eDarling - Managing Director Christian Vollmann leaves
  26. ↑ edarling.de (PDF; 292 kB) The eDarling method
  27. ↑ partnersuche-kostenlos.net Interview David Khalil (undated)
  28. ↑ berlin-maximal.de (Tagesspiegel) ( Memento of the original from January 6, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Now also to touch: Berlin maximal issue 12/1/2013 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.berlin-maximal.de
  29. ↑ gruenderszene.de eDarling: The 20-year plan
  30. ↑ edarling.de edarling.de: Costs and functional scope of the premium membership
  31. ↑ google.de Google: Search result Automatic extension partner search
  32. ↑ Brand eins 07/2012 ( Memento of the original from August 5, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Dirk Böttcher: The price for the oomph @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.brandeins.de
  33. ↑ a b TÜV Süd certificate for Affinitas GmbH ( Memento of the original from June 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on safer-shopping.de.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.safer-shopping.de
  34. ↑ W&V May 9, 2012 Etiquette for dating portals
  35. ↑ spin-kodex.de Homepage of the code for serious partner search on the net (SPIN code)
  36. ↑ edarling.de (PDF; 321 kB) eDarling portrait
  37. ↑ edarling.de University cooperation partner of eDarling
  38. ↑ spiegel.de July 11, 2011 Why Kevins are at home alone
  39. ↑ spiegel.de September 30, 2011 If you believe, you won't necessarily be happy
  40. ↑ Die ZEIT September 4th, 2011 Whoever believes will be saved. But does religion also make you happy?
  41. ↑ Die ZEIT April 29, 2013 Money is a matter of faith
  42. ↑ Daily Mail January 2, 2012 Why Kevins don't get girlfriends: Potential partners less likely to click on 'unattractive names' on dating websites
  43. ↑ Berliner Zeitung October 3, 2011 Portrait of Wiebke Neberich in the Berliner Zeitung
  44. ↑ Dr. Wiebke Neberich in the alumni directory of the Max Planck Society. ( Memento of the original from July 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on mpg.de  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.imprs-life.mpg.de
  45. ↑ Is edarling.de a rip-off or not? on singleboersen-vergleich.de
  46. ↑ eDarling puts an end to rip-offs. ( Memento of the original from April 23, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on partnersuche.org @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.partnersuche.org
  47. ↑ Computer image: Test: 8 single portals on the Internet (PDF; 401 kB)
  48. ↑ edarling.de press page eDarling
  49. ↑ Test February 24, 2011 Comparison: Internet portals for singles