Zoosk is an

online dating Online dating, also known as Internet dating, Virtual dating, or Mobile app dating, is a relatively recent method used by people with a goal of searching for and interacting with potential romantic or sexual partners, via the internet. An onlin ...

service available in 25 languages and in more than 80 countries. The founders of the company are Shayan Zadeh and Alex Mehr, who ran the company until December 2014. After struggles that year, Kelly Steckelberg became the company's new CEO. In July 2019, Zoosk became part of Spark Networks SE.

History

Zoosk launched in December 2007. Its co-founders, Shayan Zadeh and Alex Mehr, were the company's original CEOs. They are both Iranian immigrants who migrated to US to continue their education. Zadeh and Mehr met as undergraduates at

Sharif University of Technology Sharif University of Technology (SUT; fa, دانشگاه صنعتی شریف) is a public research university in Tehran, Iran. It is widely considered as the nation's most prestigious and leading institution for science, technology, engineering, ...

in Iran and travelled to the US together to attend graduate school at the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

. Zadeh worked at

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

after graduating with a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

from

in computer science, which is part of the

University of Maryland College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences The College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences (CMNS) at the University of Maryland, College Park, is home to ten academic departments and a dozen interdisciplinary research centers and institutes. CMNS is one of 13 schools and colleg ...

. Mehr earned his master's degree and

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

and later worked for

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

. Mehr attended business school at the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...

, but he dropped out to work on Zoosk."Shayan Zadeh & Alex Mehr Interview"
''Vimeo'' Accessed September 6, 2012 In April 2014, Zoosk filed S-1 paperwork for an

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

as it sought to raise $100 million in capital. In the S-1, the company reported 2013 revenues of $178.2 million, a 63% increase over the previous year, and that it had cut losses 87% to $2.6 million. It has 27 million members, of which 650,000 were paying subscribers, and its membership was growing 44% year-over-year. Zoosk had reached the position of no. 1 grossing dating app and a top 25 grossing app on the

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

App Store. Despite $200 million in revenue collected in 2014, as well as a profit the previous year, Zoosk lost money in 2014 due to the company overspending on expansion and over-hiring. The company operated on the start-up principle that profits do not matter. With these problems at the company, Zoosk canceled its IPO in December. In January 2015, they laid off 15% of their staff. To improve revenue, the company decided in November 2014 to require a paid membership to send messages. On March 21, 2019, Spark Networks SE (a global dating company with a portfolio of dating brands) announced a definitive deal to acquire Zoosk. The deal was finalized on July 1, 2019, forming North America's second-largest dating company in revenues.

Product

Zoosk has an

and

Android Android may refer to: Science and technology * Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system ** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...

app and a desktop chat client. Zoosk uses

big data Though used sometimes loosely partly because of a lack of formal definition, the interpretation that seems to best describe Big data is the one associated with large body of information that we could not comprehend when used only in smaller am ...

and algorithmic recommendations technology to help users find partners. Its "proprietary Behavioral Matchmaking engine" learns from users' clicks, messaging, and other actions to help produce more accurate matches. The idea is that the more data Zoosk obtains from its users, the better its recommendations can be. In August 2014, Zoosk added its Photo Verification service, designed to prevent users from "posting photos of themselves when they were 10 years younger or 20 pounds lighter". To verify a photo, users are asked to take a video

selfie A selfie () is a self-portrait photograph, typically taken with a digital camera or smartphone, which may be held in the hand or supported by a selfie stick. Selfies are often shared on social media, via social networking services such as F ...

in order to record their appearance from multiple angles. Zoosk moderators then determine if the user's profile photo and video match. When they do, the user receives a green check next to his or her photos. The feature was released first to the Zoosk

app, followed by

. In January 2018, Zoosk launched Insignia, a way for U.S. military service members to verify their status. The feature is meant to reduce instances of

stolen valor ''Stolen Valor: How the Vietnam Generation Was Robbed of Its Heroes and Its History'' (1998) is a self-published book by B. G. Burkett, a Vietnam veteran, and Glenna Whitley, an investigative journalist. It reveals that numerous people claiming ...

, particularly in connection to romance scams. Zoosk uses

gamification Gamification is the strategic attempt to enhance systems, services, organizations, and activities by creating similar experiences to those experienced when playing games in order to motivate and engage users. This is generally accomplished thro ...

and popularity rankings to encourage participation.

Funding

Zoosk's investors include Bessemer Venture Partners, ATA Ventures and Canaan Partners. The company has raised more than $60 million in equity.

Pricing model

Until November 2014, Zoosk charged no fee to start using the app and to send one message to another person. Since November 2014, contact and interaction beyond the first message per person requires a premium (i.e., paid) subscription.

Awards and recognition

In 2014, Zoosk was named to the Inc. magazine's Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in America, ranking no. 1660. In 2014, the ''San Francisco Business Times'' also named Shayan Zadeh to its 40 Under 40 list of Bay Area entrepreneurs. ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' ranked Zoosk no. 29 on its The Next Big Thing 2011 – The Top 50 Venture-Funded Companies list, up from the No. 42 spot the previous year."The Next Big Thing 2011 - The Top 50 Venture-Funded Companies"
''The Wall Street Journal'' Accessed September 6, 2012Kincaid, Jaso

''The Washington Post'' Accessed September 6, 2012

About.com Dotdash Meredith (formerly About.com) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, home, food, finance, tech, beauty, l ...

's 2011 Reader's Choice Awards named Zoosk's iPhone app a finalist in its Best Dating App competition."Best Dating App Readers' Choice Award 2011 Finalists"

. Retrieved September 9, 2012 According to AppAppeal, in August 2012 Zoosk was the fifth most popular dating app in the world and the third in the U.S."The Most Popular Dating App Per Country"
''AppAppeal'' Accessed September 10, 2012 In 2012, the company also won an

Effie Award Effie is a feminine given name, sometimes a short form (hypocorism) of Euphemia (Greek: Εὐφημία). Notable people with the name include: Women * Effie Bancroft (1840–1921), English actress and theatre manager * Effie Boggess (1927-2021 ...

for its advertising campaign "Online Dating, Your Way"."Effie:Zoosk"
''Effie Worldwide'' Accessed September 9, 2012"Effie Awards"
Advertising Educational Foundation Accessed September 10, 2012

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.zoosk.com 2007 establishments in California American companies established in 2007 Companies based in San Francisco Internet properties established in 2007 Multilingual websites Online dating services of the United States