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<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=dating+apps&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Dating apps </a>are hardly a new concept in India. Infact, these have managed to seep in into our regular lives fairly easy, heralding the rise of the dating app culture.<br />
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Be it<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=tinder&amp;sortorder=effectivedate"> Tinder</a>, TrulyMadlyDeeply, Woo or Hinge, millennials nowadays have one or more of these apps on their phones and use them to meet new people and in some cases, even date or hookup.<br />
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But, there have been complaints, as well. An individual’s privacy on any app of this nature is a major concern. So, is the skewed male-female ratio.<br />
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So, when<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Happn-the-French-alternative-to-Tinder-is-now-in-India-and-its-CEO-says-theyre-not-afraid-of-competition/articleshow/52508154.cms"> a new dating app announces that it is launching its services in the country</a>, the news should be hardly surprising.<br />
<br /> But, what about when the app claims that it’s not the same as other <keyword id="1557997" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="dating-apps">dating apps</keyword>?<br />
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For starters, the app’s CEO and co-founder insists they want to position it as a meet-up app in the country as opposed to a dating app which had us intrigued. The fact that it works by using a user’s location to show up potential matches also helped.<br />
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The app in question is called <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=happn&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Happn</a> and was launched in <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=paris&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Paris</a> in early 2014. In just over 2 years, the company has managed to witness unprecedented growth and gross 15 million registered users worldwide, with about a million users in the U.K itself.<br />
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Once you sign up on the app, it uses real time <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=GPS+TRACKING&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">GPS tracking</a> to give you a list of people near you. It also tells you whether you’ve crossed paths with them once or several times and also gives you a map of roughly where you crossed paths, along with their photos, name, age and profession.<br />
<br /> Think of that cute guy you locked eyes with in the metro or the girl who was sitting in the table opposite you. With <keyword id="2874438" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="happn">Happn</keyword>, you’d now get a second chance to approach them.<br />
<br /> If you like what you see, you hit the red love sign and if the feeling is mutual, you have a ‘crush’ and can start messaging. However, unlike <keyword id="1738241" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Tinder">Tinder</keyword>, you don’t have to wait for a mutual like to start anything. You can always go ahead and send a ‘charm’ (which is basically a notification signalling your interest) that they will definitely see. If they happen to reciprocate, the court is all yours.<br />
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Yep, it sounds good in theory. But, how would this app stand out in real life?<br />
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I decided to take one for the team and use the app for a week and here are the five things I noticed:<br />
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1. <strong>Happn is incredibly easy to use and safe but also addictive: </strong>As the app uses one’s real time geolocation to throw up matches, the chief concern understandably was whether the app was safe to use or not. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=didier+rappaport&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Didier Rappaport</a>, the CEO and co-founder had gone on record stating that Happn can’t be used to stalk someone as the details of anyone’s location is not disclosed and that it is very easy to block someone and I have to admit, I agree. Despite the fact that you can see where you crossed paths with somEone, you however cannot get details regarding their exact location. The one week that I’ve been on the app, I haven’t faced any security issues and according to me, the app does uphold an individual’s privacy and delivers what it promises.<br />
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However, there’s a downside- Happn is also incredibly addictive. You’ll end up opening the app multiple times in a day, and I think the fact that all your matches are in real time can be attributed to that. This is obviously good news for the app and its CEO, but the incessant notifications about matches can get slightly frustrating for a new user.<br />
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2. <strong>There are a lot of single people out there: </strong>So, here’s the deal- Happn launched its services in India a mere 2 weeks back and except some Facebook ads, they haven’t indulged in any marketing campaigns or had an ‘official launch’ and yet the app already has over 200,000 users on board. For an app that is just starting out in a new country, the numbers are great.<br />
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Additionally, you can yourself realise the popularity of the app while using it. Not only did I get charms ( every 20 minutes the minute I signed up on Happn, I also managed to spot a large number of people from my office on the app, which is an indication of the number of single people that are out there and who use apps such as these to meet new people.<br />
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3. <strong>There are surprisingly more married people on the app: </strong>You will find people of all ages and relationship status(es) on Happn. Finding married people on your newsfeed is not an uncommon sight on this app.<br />
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Infact, I’ve received charms from a 63-year old to a 40-year-old whose profile picture was with his wife and two kids. I didn’t start a conversation with either of them, so I personally don’t know what to make of it.<br />
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4. <strong>It does eliminate the whole planning to meet scenario: </strong>What happens with Tinder and other dating apps is that they show you potential matches based on your preferences and though location is accounted for, it’s not in the real time as Happn is. As a result, when you meet someone you like and have an interesting conversation with on Tinder, you make a plan to meet up with them either the next day or sometime ‘later’- which is what Happn eliminates. Because, the person you are messaging may end up being in the same vicinity as you, you also have the chance of having a real life interaction right there and then.<br />
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5. <strong>Hookup &gt; Meetup: </strong>Contrary to what Happn’s <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=ceo&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">CEO </a>wants, the many people I matched with on the app were surprised, and to some extent insulted at my suggestion of meeting and being friends and nothing more than that. A majority of them admitted they were on the app to hook up. “Even I wanted to meet new people, I would have gone to a party, ya,” quipped one when I asked him about whether he viewed Happn as a meet-up app.<br />
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I used Happn, the French alternative to Tinder for a week and these are the 5 things I noticed

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In early 2014, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/This-dating-app-tells-you-when-you-cross-paths-with-someone-you-might-like-but-its-founder-insists-thats-more-romantic-than-creepy/articleshow/47335017.cms">Didier Rappaport</a> launched a meet-up<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=dating+app&amp;sortorder=effectivedate"> app</a> called <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=happn&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Happn</a>, with the aim of connecting people who have crossed paths in real life using their real-time geolocation.<br />
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What it ideally meant is that through the app one can get in touch with strangers you might have liked the look of when walking down the street, riding the bus, taking the metro or eating at the same restaurant as you. The very people you didn’t have the courage (or the chance) to speak in person can now be approached through a click of your phone.<br />
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Two years later, the meet-up app has not only seen unprecedented growth, a good amount of funding but also been rewarded with the title of being the French alternative to<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=tinder&amp;sortorder=effectivedate"> Tinder</a>.<br />
<br /> As of last month, <keyword id="2874438" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="happn">Happn</keyword> had <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/A-million-people-in-the-UK-now-use-the-Happn-dating-app/articleshow/51841986.cms">15 million users worldwide, with a million of them in the UK itself.</a><br />
<br /> Rappaport, who is also the CEO, had claimed that the app is gaining 1.2 million users every month and that it could match <keyword id="1738241" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Tinder">Tinder</keyword> by 2017.<br />
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Although Tinder has not revealed its the number of its users publicity, a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/30/fashion/tinder-the-fast-growing-dating-app-taps-an-age-old-truth.html?_r=0">2014 estimate </a>pegged it around 50 million registered users.<br />
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And, just this month they launched their services in India, where dating apps are aplenty.<br />
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Business Insider sat down with co-founder and CEO Didier Rappaport while he was visiting the country for a freewheeling chat about Happn’s strategy in India, the importance of security, competition and it's goal of touching 1 million users in India by the end of 2016.<br />
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<strong>1. </strong><strong>What was the idea behind bringing Happn to India?</strong><br />
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Happn is a meet-up app that allows its users to connect with the people they have crossed paths with. Meeting each other is a universal need, which is why the app is intended for single people all over the world, including India. Additionally, Happn targets big cities with a high population density. India, with its 1.3 billion inhabitants was naturally a market that we had to enter.<br />
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<strong>2. </strong><strong>How does India fit into Happn’s strategy?</strong><br />
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We have the ambition of being a leading meet-up app. After 2 years and 3 months, we are now actively present in over 40 major cities all over the world, and are planning on launching even more markets, in order to become a truly global service. India is the second-largest country in terms of population and therefore offers an extremely high potential, and we’re really looking forward to connecting millions of people in India’s cities.<br />
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<strong>3. </strong><strong>Any features that have been modified to suit to the country?</strong><br />
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The app is the same everywhere. All that is changed is the language when needed, but otherwise the concept stays the same: a timeline that shows users the people they have crossed paths with, in chronological order, so that they can avoid all missed connections.<br />
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<strong>4. </strong><strong>Why- according to you- should anyone in India join Happn?</strong><br />
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Happn is a great way to make the most of your everyday encounters: every time you cross path with another Happn user, their profile shows up on your timeline, and you have chance to reconnect. It’s a great service to use in big cities, where people are usually very busy, spending a lot of time at work and commuting from home to work. They don’t have much time to meet new people, and Happn therefore acts as a little help to provoke your destiny, to meet new faces, new friends or perhaps someone very special.<br />
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<strong>5. </strong><strong>What is the one year goal for <keyword id="3385023" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Happn-in-India">Happn in India</keyword>?</strong><br />
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We are currently launching the service in India and already have more than 200,000 users. India is a country with an extremely large population – we therefore expect to have a very large user base in the coming months, and to become a leading meet-up service in all its major cities. <br />
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<strong>6. </strong><strong>For many in India, the concept of matching with people who you’ve crossed paths with may seem slightly creepy- what is your take on that?</strong><br />
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Security and personal privacy have been priorities for us since the very first day. Happn is thought as a platform to discover or reconnect with people we have crossed paths with. Crossing each other’s path means we probably have something in common: we live in the same neighborhood, or we like the same activities. The app needs to be a safe and healthy place. Therefore all is put into place to ensure privacy: it is impossible to follow anyone with the app or to know someone’s current location. It is possible to block someone at any time or to report unwanted behaviour.<br />
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<strong>7. </strong><strong>How do you think Happn stands out as compared to Tinder?</strong><br />
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Happn is an app against missed connections. It helps you find the people you have encountered. On the contrary to other dating apps, the experience starts in real life: thanks to real-time geolocation, the app shows you a timeline of the people you have really crossed paths with and who were at the same place at the same time, and it keeps your encounters memorized to connect later. They are people you might bump into every day but that you’ve never noticed because you didn’t look up.<br />
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We are confident that we can make a real difference in the lives of millions of people in India as well, and we are not afraid of competition.<br />
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Image credit: Businessinsider.com<br />
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Happn, the
French alternative to Tinder is now in India and its CEO says ‘they’re not
afraid of competition’

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Reuters/Leah Millis</span></p><p class="caption">Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>Happn is the latest dating service to pile onto Facebook after the company decided it would get into dating.</strong></li><li><strong>Happn CEO Didier Rappaport said it was curious that Facebook had announced the news only weeks after the Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal.</strong></li><li><strong>He said it might be a way to make the bad news disappear.</strong></li><li><strong>Rappaport's comments came after Facebook's announcement sent the stock price for Match, which owns Tinder, plummeting.</strong></li></ul><p><br />The CEO of dating app Happn thinks Facebook has an ulterior motive for announcing a brand new dating service.</p><p>In an interview with Business Insider, Didier Rappaport said social networking and dating were totally different - and that Facebook was trying to distract from its privacy problems.</p><p>He said: "I have been quite surprised that Facebook would launch a dating service. The DNA of a social network and dating service are totally opposite. People like to share lots of things with their friends and family, but not what concerns their private life and dates."</p><p>"It's quite interesting to note this announcement has been done just a few weeks after the Cambridge Analytica concerns," Rappaport added, suggesting it was a way to make the bad news "disappear," so Facebook doesn't have to "talk about the past."</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Happn</span></p><p class="caption">Happn is a French dating app which matches users based on their location.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Facebook announced at its annual F8 developer conference that <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/facebook-announces-new-dating-app-features-2018-5">it would add dating features to the existing Facebook mobile app</a>, but hasn't given many details. The company promised it would respect people's privacy, and that it wouldn't show friends as prospective matches.</p><p>Still, observers noted the irony of Facebook announcing a dating service both as it tries to move past <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/facebook-87-million-peoples-data-taken-in-cambridge-analytica-scandal-2018-4">the Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal</a>, and <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/facebook-fires-employee-accused-of-stalking-women-on-tinder-2018-5">after it fired an employee for allegedly stalking women online</a>.</p><p>IAC, the parent company of Match Group, <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/facebook-dating-tinder-match-group-iac-response-2018-5">issued a barbed response to the news on Tuesday</a>, riffing on <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/facebook-removes-accounts-pages-tied-to-russia-internet-research-agency-2018-4">Russian groups using Facebook to spread misinformation</a>. Match Group owns big dating services such as OKCupid, PlentyOfFish, and Tinder. "Come on in," CEO Joey Levin said. "The water's warm. Their product could be great for US/Russia relationships."</p><p>Nonetheless, <a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/facebook-dating-app-match-group-tinder-stock-iac-2018-5-1023037358">Match Group's stock cratered on Wednesday</a>. Happn might be a private company, but it's possible that Facebook's move into the dating space could torpedo the competition.</p><p>Rappaport is, outwardly, not concerned. "Ok, it would be one more competitor," he said. "Maybe a big one - we don't know. We don't know the reaction of Facebook users, if they will agree to mix their social lives with their private lives."</p><p>He said Happn had almost 50 million registered users, and 7 million monthly active users. It recently moved into subscriptions and, while it doesn't disclose revenue, is profitable.</p><p>Asked why he thought Facebook didn't acquire a dating app - like Happn <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/23/bumble-majority-owner-badoo-looking-to-sell-for-about-1-point-5-billion.html">or </a><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/23/bumble-majority-owner-badoo-looking-to-sell-for-about-1-point-5-billion.html">Bumble</a> - Rappaport pointed to Facebook's decreasing app usage.</p><p>"They bought WhatsApp, they bought Instagram, that's usually the way they [approach it.] Here, it's like they need to do something inside Facebook to re-increase the usage of Facebook. And that's probably why they haven't tried to buy any other app," he said.</p><h2>Happn remains open-minded about being acquired</h2><p>When Business Insider interviewed Rappaport in April 2017, <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/happn-is-getting-paid-subscriptions-and-will-use-ai-to-recommend-matches-2017-4">he hinted at acquisition offers for Happn</a>.</p><p>Asked on Thursday whether the firm might seek a buyer or more venture capital funding, Rappaport said: "There are not so many dating apps out there that are at global scale and independent - in a world of ... consolidation, Happn could be a target.</p><p>"Now, this is not something we have in mind, we want to continue our growth. How we will develop Happn in the next few years - in partnership with a giant - we don't know today."</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/online-gaming-racist-xbox-live-playstation-twitch-microsoft-black-gamers-2018-4">Gaming while black: How racist trolls are still dominating video games</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Happn's CEO took a shot at Facebook for using its new dating service to distract from its data disaster

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://twitter.com/didierrappaport">Twitter/didierrappaport</a></span></p><p class="caption">Happn CEO Didier Rappaport.</p></div><p></p></div></div>There are now 1 million people using the Happn dating app in the <keyword id="6354868" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="UK">UK</keyword>, according to company behind it.</p><p>Launched in the UK in May 2014, Happn allows people to see who they have crossed paths with in real life. If two people on the platform like each other (by tapping a heart on the other user's profile) then they can start messaging each other.</p><p>The French startup, which competes with the likes of Tinder, Bumble, Once, The Inner Circle, and an increasing number of more niche dating apps, said it now has 15 million users worldwide.</p><p>Happn said it has a particularly high concentration of users in London, which is its third largest city of users worldwide behind Sao Paolo, Brazil and Buenos Aires, Argentina. Competition for users in London led Bumble <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/bumble-could-be-fined-after-it-was-caught-advertising-without-permission-in-east-london-2016-3" target="_blank">to advertise on pavements in East London's Shoreditch</a> without permission.</p><p>Happn CEO and cofounder Didier Rappaport <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/happn-ceo-didier-rapport-voice-messages-are-coming-and-well-catch-tinder-by-2017-2015-11" target="_blank">told Business Insider</a> last November that Happn had 700,000 users in the UK. At the time, he said Happn was gaining 1.2 million users worldwide every month and that he expected it to catch Tinder in terms of user numbers by 2017.</p><p>Tinder hasn't revealed its user numbers publicly but <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/30/fashion/tinder-the-fast-growing-dating-app-taps-an-age-old-truth.html" target="_blank">a 2014 estimate</a> guessed it has around 50 million registered users.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/turn-on-iphone-read-receipts-2016-4">Stop making the biggest mistake when it comes to texting etiquette</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="U5eDFkdjp7f9evTl8u2fWmV19kBCwmNA" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

A million people in the UK now use the Happn dating app

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Business Insider/Sam Shead</span></p><p class="caption">Happn cofounder and CEO Didier Rappaport.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Mobile dating app Happn can't be used to stalk people, according to the company's CEO, despite what some reports have suggested.</p><p>The Happn app allows single people to set up their own profile and choose what kind of person they're looking for based on sex and age. The app shows users who they've "crossed paths" with and how many times. After two Happn users express an interest in one another - by tapping a red love heart on the other person's profile - they are able write messages to one another.</p><p>When asked about whether the app can be used to stalk people, Happn cofounder and CEO Didier Rappaport claimed it isn't nearly accurate enough.</p><p>"You can cross with people who are around you but it is not really precise because it's in a circle of 250m, which in a big city is very large, so you cannot really stalk the people," he said.</p><p>Those who use Happn for several months may start to notice that they've crossed paths with certain people close to 100 times, indicating that this person probably lives or works very close to them. It's perfectly possible that Happn users may start to recognise the people they've matched with on Happn on the street.</p><p>Rappaport told Business Insider that Happn is planning to introduce a voice messaging feature so that users can talk to their "crushes" in a more realistic way. Like rival app Tinder, Happn will also be integrated with Instagram so users can see what photos their love interests are posting.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Happn</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>"For us the evolution of our product is really important," Rappaport said. "We want to make a service that is more and more rich for our users to allow them to express themselves much more."</p><p>Some have suggested that Happn's proprietary algorithm could be used by the police to track people who have gone missing but Rappaport said the company's technology wouldn't be able to pinpoint an individual's location any better than the technology that's already built into smartphones, namely GPS.</p><p>"We like fostering magic and we want to keep our app in that mood," said Rappaport.</p><p>Happn has 700,000 users in the <keyword id="6354868" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="UK">UK</keyword>, with 450,000 of those in London where a high population density allows Happn users to cross paths with more people. Globally, Happn is used by some 8 million people and 1.2 million people are joining the platform every month. Rappaport said he expects Happn to have 25 to 30 million users worldwide by the end of 2016 and just as many users as Tinder by 2017.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/most-liked-right-swiped-man-tinder-2015-11">This 28 year old is the most right-swiped man in New Jersey on Tinder</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="I3NmQzeTo4TOiSN6S-c0_9C6WXk_6Eet" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

This French CEO insists his mobile dating app can't be used to stalk people

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/this-app-wants-to-bring-the-real-world-back-into-online-dating-2015-10" target="_blank"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://twitter.com/didierrappaport">Twitter/didierrappaport</a></span></p><p class="caption">Happn CEO Didier Rappaport.</p></a></div><p></p></div></div>Mobile dating app<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/this-app-wants-to-bring-the-real-world-back-into-online-dating-2015-10" target="_blank"> Happn</a> is going to introduce a feature that will allow people to send voice messages to their crushes.</p><p>The feature, which is likely to creep out some people, allows Happn users to send their connections a one-minute long personal audio clip in the app.</p><p>Happn cofounder and CEO Didier Rappaport said in a statement: "This new voice feature provides our members with another opportunity to connect on a more personal level and create meaningful relationships."</p><p>Happn also announced that is now has 10 million users worldwide.</p><p>The app, which launched in Paris in early 2014, connects people who have crossed paths in real life. By harnessing real-time geolocation technology, Happn shows users a timeline of the people they have crossed paths with throughout the day - those who were at the same place (within 800 feet) at the same time. They can then express their interest in another person by tapping a heart or dismiss them by tapping a cross. When two users like each other they can start talking to one another.</p><p>Rappaport <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/happn-ceo-didier-rapport-voice-messages-are-coming-and-well-catch-tinder-by-2017-2015-11" target="_blank">told Business Insider last November</a> that he hopes to catch up with rival Tinder in terms of user numbers by the end of next year. Tinder is <a href="http://www.datingsitesreviews.com/staticpages/index.php?page=Tinder-Statistics-Facts-History" target="_blank">thought to have over 25 million users</a> but Happn is gaining 1.3 million more a month.</p><p>"We are not afraid to compete with Tinder," said Rappaport. "Tinder is well known because it was one of the first apps in this new way. I think by 2017 we should be equal."</p><p>In order to do this, he said he planned to launch a number of new features to further improve the overall experience users get, including the ability to send voice messages to crushes.</p><p>"For us, the evolution of our product is really important. We want to make a service that is more and more rich for our users and one that allows them to express themselves much more."<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Happn</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>"The voice is something that is very emotional," the French entrepreneur continued. "Just listening to the voice of someone else can give you a lot of impression."</p><p>When Rappaport was asked whether he was worried about people misusing the voice messaging feature, he said: "You cannot talk with someone who hasn't agreed first to talk with you. Second, if you abuse the feature in a discussion with someone then it's very easy to someone to block you."</p><h2>The dark side of dating apps</h2><p>The number of mobile dating apps has surged in the last two years with apps like Bumble, Once, Hinge, and The Inner Circle all competing with each other and offering slightly different features.</p><p>They've been embraced by millions of young single people worldwide but health experts have claimed that they facilitate sexual encounters and are to blame for a <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-34995811" target="_blank">rise in the number of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), notably HIV</a>.</p><p>Rappaport said it's impossible to link dating apps with a rise in STI numbers.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/gadget-designer-yves-behar-innovation-2015-12">Silicon Valley's most creative designer reveals the next wave of innovation - and we can't wait</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="MwMjNrdzrgf4pLDM02uGYosl_yw2msn-" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

French dating app Happn's 10 million users can now send each other intimate voice messages

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Happn is the hopeless romantic among dating apps, though the concept can sound a little creepy at first.<p>A lot of apps like Tinder that simply show you people within a few miles of you. Happn goes one step beyond: When you open it on your phone,&#xa0;<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">you're greeted by a collection of other users with whom you've physically crossed paths with throughout your day. </span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">While some people might be initially uneasy about the location-tracking nature of the app, Happn's founder and CEO says it's all about replicating the serendipity of real life.</span></p><p>"<span id="docs-internal-guid-ba8261fa-67e1-a531-0e42-25471a726ebe"><span>We wanted to bring back reality into the dating world," Happn founder and CEO Didier Rappaport told Business Insider. "We think that every day you cross paths with people, and most of them, you miss them, because you do not have the time to talk with them or because there was some missed connection."</span></span></p><p><span><span>Even the term "missed connection" likely conjures up images of cringe-worthy Craiglist posts, but Rappaport says he wanted to bring that concept into the modern age. And so Rappaport, a serial entrepreneur who co-founded Dailymotion, decided to create his first app to act as a sort of hybrid between a travel log and Tinder. That way, when people noticed someone interesting on their daily commute or while sitting at their favorite coffee shop, they could open up Happn afterward if they missed their initial chance and have a second shot at striking up a conversation.</span></span></p><p><span><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><br /></span></span></p><p><span><span><span id="docs-internal-guid-ba8261fa-67e6-5716-4985-14a15bf768ed"><span>"When you meet someone, it is always at a precise place and at a precise moment," Rappaport said. "So the fact that on your device you have a geo-location service and your device is always with you, you're always there in real time with your neighborhood and everyone around you."</span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span>When browsing Happn, you can see a timeline of every Happn user you've been near in the last few days, ranked chronologically and by the total time you've been around them. If you see someone you like, you can "heart" them secretly to indicate interest, but they won't be notified - you're only matched up if you both independently "heart" each other. </span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span>If you want to be a bit bolder and ensure that person knows you're interested, you can send them a "charm," which is essentially a push notification with a guaranteed delivery that costs between 10 and 20 cents.</span></span></span></span></p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><span><span><span><span>Since your Happn timeline is arranged chronologically, a charm also guarantees that your encounter won't be lost among more recent encounters if that person traveled a lot that day.</span></span></span></span><p><span><span><span><span>"Security&#xa0;<span id="docs-internal-guid-ba8261fa-6804-bfd1-23f8-7b92510ea109"><span>was one of the pillars of our thinking when we built Happn," Rappaport said when asked about the inherent location-tracking of Happn. "When you are very near someone, we will never say 'You are 10 meters,' we will say 'You are less than 250 meters' - you don't have any flag on the maps. We don't record the exact journeys of people, we just remember the crossing points."</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span>Happn got its start in Paris, France, but has since expanded to 3 million registered users with strong followings in London and New York City. After raising a total of $8 million in a seed and Series A funding, Rappaport told Business Insider Happn "</span></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">should close the Series B by this summer," and plans to continue to see growth increase at a faster pace.</span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><br /></span></p><p><span><span><span><span>"We reached our&#xa0;</span></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">first million users in first 11 months, the second million after two and half months, and the third million within the following 50 days," Rappaport said. "We should be at least 10 million members by the end of this year."</span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Talking with Rappaport, it quickly became clear that while people have a habit of sitting and browsing dating apps like Tinder, Happns takes the stance that you should be living in the moment. And that while you can browse Happn while at a museum to see other people at the exhibit, the main idea is to be able to browse your encounters after you get back home. It's a subtle difference in use case than other hook-up apps like Tinder, whose users often make a game out of browsing the app and swiping through potential matches in any spare moment.</span></p><div><div></div></div><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"There is a big difference between the past and the present in terms of romance," Rappaport said. "We are not offering people the ability to only make love, because in the past it was just a huge lie - there is no algorithm that makes finding your love because you checked the right boxes with someone else. We just provide people the ability to meet each other . You can only meet the people who are around you at the right time, at the same time, like you. It's very easy, simple in fact. People need a simple app to help them in their own life, that's all."</span></p><p dir="ltr">You can download Happn for free for iOS <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/app/id489185828">over at the App Store</a> and for Android <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ftw_and_co.happn">over at Google Play.</a></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/update-iphone-ios-82-storage-space-2015-3">Apple sneaked in an annoying new feature in its latest iPhone iOS update - but there's also an upside</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="1lNXIwdDpL971hXnjojOrnEC3peyfh7O" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

This dating app tells you when you cross paths with someone you might like, but its founder insists that's more romantic than creepy

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Facebook</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>At the beginning of May, Facebook announced it was launching a dating product.</strong></li><li><strong>The company has received criticism from other companies in the dating app scene like Happn and Match.com.</strong></li><li><strong>Ashley Madison's CTO says people should be aware that as Facebook generates revenue from adverts, you are essentially the product.<br /></strong></li><li><strong>Users will have to weigh up whether they are happy about involving their dating lives in that, he said.</strong></li></ul><p><br />At the beginning of May, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook was entering the dating app scene, wanting its users to create <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/facebook-announces-new-dating-app-features-2018-5/?r=US&amp;IR=T" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"the most meaningful relationship of all."</a></p><p>Zuckerberg's new venture drew a lot of attention from other leaders in the industry, including <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/happn-ceo-facebook-dating-distraction-from-cambridge-analytica-2018-5?r=US&amp;IR=T" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the CEO of Happn</a>, Didier Rappaport, who said the announcement was just "trying to distract" from <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cambridge-analytica-data-breach-harvested-private-facebook-messages-2018-4?r=US&amp;IR=T" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the recent data scandal</a>. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-dating-tinder-match-group-iac-response-2018-5?r=US&amp;IR=T" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Executives at Match Group</a> also hit out at the idea, saying it was great for US/Russia relationships, and the timing was surprising "given the amount of personal and sensitive data that comes with this territory."</p><p>Ashley Madison is arguably the polar opposite of what Facebook is thinking of creating. Users go to the adult dating service for discretion for affairs and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/things-polyamorous-people-want-you-to-know-about-what-its-really-like-to-have-multiple-partners-2017-12?r=US&amp;IR=T" target="_blank" rel="noopener">polyamorous relationships</a>.</p><p>According to Ashley Madison's CTO Ruben Buell, because of the size of its user base alone, Facebook is going to be pretty dominant in the online dating space. But, if Facebook is sticking with its traditional methods of making money, it will be pushing an ad based model. This, Buell said, may conjure up some concerns from users.</p><p>"It does make you ask, if you're not paying for the product, then you are the product," he told Business Insider.</p><p>"Companies like Ashley where we don't sell data, and we don't have any advertisers on the platform, we can focus on discretion and privacy, and protecting users data. Facebook will be focusing on building another ad platform, going after this primary market of 18-40 year olds, probing into our personal lives so they can grab insights, which they can sell to advertisers."</p><p>Facebook's goal has always been connecting the world, he added, but they are going a step further when they are connecting our personal data to the world when it concerns something all of us take very seriously - our dating lives.</p><p>In general, people are getting more savvy about how much of their information on Facebook is publicly available to view. So Buell said this may be a challenge for Facebook going forward.</p><p>However, although it's a little bit out of place for what Facebook is at the moment, the sheer scale and volume of users Facebook has mean it is likely to be a "disruptive force," Buell said.</p><p>Facebook also has an advantage of being one of the largest advertising networks on the planet. This means they can easily shut competitors out of their user base.</p><p>"As we were last September looking to advertise on the platform, they went through a somewhat faint approval process then came back and said 'at this time we're not accepting any dating advertisers.'" Buell said. "Which makes a lot of sense now."</p><p>The biggest pushback from potential users will be concerns about how much information Facebook has on them, and how much they're willing to share with potential suitors, Buell said.</p><p>"And how careful can you be with that data when you need to be able to mine it, and sell it for your ad platform?" he added. "You need to make it available to third party advertisers because that's the only way you monetise your product - and your product is your user."</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/errol-morris-steve-jobs-making-of-apple-switch-ad-campaign-2018-5">Steve Jobs made 3 AM phone calls to argue about Apple ads</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Ashley Madison's CTO says Facebook's dating app idea may not be popular with users because 'they are the product'

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Happn</span></p><p class="caption">Happn helps you track down strangers that you've walked past.</p></div><p></p></div></div>French dating app Happn has raised a $14 million (£9.2 million) Series B round, <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2015/09/30/happn-attracts-14-million-for-its-dating-app-powered-by-real-life-interactions/?ncid=rss">TechCrunch reports.</a></p><p>Alven Capital, DN Capital, Raine Ventures and business angels such as Fabrice Grinda, David Wolfson and Gil Penchina took part in the round. The company <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/happn-dating-app-romance-and-stalking">raised $8 million</a> (£5.2 million) back in February.</p><p>Happn lets you get in touch with strangers you might have liked the look of when walking down the street, queueing for a coffee, or riding the bus, but didn't get the chance (or have the courage) to speak to in person. As an alternative to Tinder, it's supposed to bring some serendipity back to dating.</p><p>That idea seems to be going down well. <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/happn-dating-app-romance-and-stalking">Founder Didier Rappaport told Business Insider UK in February </a>that the app had 700,000 monthly active users. Today it has 6 million users in 25 cities around the world, and expects to reach 10 million by the end of the year. TechCrunch writes that the company could move into Asia next - we've reached out to Happn to confirm.</p><p>Here's how Rappaport explained Happn to Business Insider earlier this year:</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">Happn puts the romanticism and spontaneity back into dating. You can use it when you meet someone and want to see them again. Or maybe you see them all the time but have never been able to say hello. Perhaps she/he works in the same area, or you met her at a party. You can discover the people around you. You might meet someone on the train and want to talk to them, but can't. Happn isn't a game. It's enriching. There's room for experimentation.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Happn</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Happn's German rival Spotted <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/dating-app-spotted-raises-145-million-like-happn-2015-8">raised a $14.5 million (£9.5 million) Series A round</a> last month. Spotted was launched in 2013, so actually predates Happn. But the French app has grown more quickly that its German counterpart, which had a million users in August with around 3,000 downloads a day.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/impact-smartphones-brain-and-body-sleep-dan-siegel-2015-8">This is what happens to your brain and body when you check your phone before bed</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="BvMjVqcjoHdZBG6tTpXy8UkhB5_46U_c" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

The French alternative to Tinder just raised $14 million

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><a href="https://www.happn.fr/en/">Happn</a> is the latest addition to the app-based dating scene. After securing $8 million (£5.2 million) of funding, it now boasts close to 2 million downloads and 700,000 active monthly users, <span>founder Didier </span><span>Rappaport told Business Insider <keyword id="6354868" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="UK">UK</keyword>.</span> Around a third of those are in London.</p><p>Some have vilified the French app for being a stalker's dream. After all, Happn helps you track down strangers whom you've walked past or queued for a coffee behind at Pret. "This happn app is taking stalking to the next level," <a href="https://twitter.com/dannyskinner_93/status/531541013861761024">wrote Danny Skinner on Twitter.</a> </p><p>Rather than liking random people to match with in your general location (like Tinder), Happn uses GPS to connect users who cross paths within a 250 metre radius. So, whoever you encounter (knowingly or not) and like the look of, you can see if they're on Happn and tap the app's "heart" symbol to show your interest. If they heart you back then the dating begins. </p><p>Happn works in a timeline system, so whoever you encounter most recently appears highest on your feed. There's no swiping, and if you want to push things forward and grab someone's attention - rather than wait for them to "heart" you - you can send them a "charm." There's a small fee involved for men who want to send out charms.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><span><br /></span></p><p>When compared with other dating apps like Tinder, Rappaport says "there's a huge difference."</p><p>"Happn uses hyper-location and works in real time," he says. "It's not like Tinder - sure, the swipe is clever, good marketing, but Happn has more to it. It's instant and simple, but allows people to express themselves and build a more substantial profile."</p><p>I signed up to the app this morning and immediately saw my Happn feed fill up with the women around me. <span>I didn't recognise any women on the streets around me at lunchtim</span>e, b<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">ack in the office, I discovered women who work in the same building as me. </span></p><p>There's a lot of information about people available on Happn. You can see who you just walked past and where, how old they are, what they do for a living, how far away they are now, and even exactly when your paths crossed. But then any dating app is likely to attract oddballs. <a href="https://twitter.com/weirdosoftinder">Just look at Tinder.</a> And, as Rappaport explains, the service allows you to block people, report foul play, and file official complaints. He said it was developed with only dating in mind.</p><p class="full"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"Happn puts the romanticism and spontaneity back into dating," he says. "You can use it when you meet someone and want to see them again. Or maybe you see them all the time but have never been able to say hello. Perhaps she/he works in the same area, or you met her at a party. You can discover the people around you. </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">You might meet someone on the train and want to talk to them, but can't. Happn isn't a game. It's enriching. There's room for experimentation."</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> </span></p><p>So in 2015, instead of letting that would-be date get away because you lost his/her number, or fluffed your lines at the bar, you can find them on Happn and get a second chance. </p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Rappaport says that he thought up the idea when perusing dating sites online. There, connecting with others takes time, and entering reams of information is tiresome. Instead, he said, Happn takes the best part of that and makes it instantaneous. </p><p>"We are putting the reality into the online world," Rappaport explained. "It's an experience. If you are visiting an exhibition or a museum you can check Happn and see who else is there with you. You'd find who else is there. It stores them in the app."</p><p>Rappaport also mentioned that Happn is doing well. Its user base is increasing every month, and in addition to the $8 million raised previously from <a href="http://www.dccapitalpartners.com/">DC Capital in London,</a> there are plans to gain further investment this year. Happn is already in Paris, London, New York, Sydney, and parts of South America, and the team wants to see it expand internationally in the next year or so.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/eighth-grader-invents-braille-printer-2015-1">A 13-Year-Old Made A Revolutionary Invention Out Of Legos And Now Intel Is Investing In His Company</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="5oanB2cjrl7OZQZKJ15oB_-fMpAdPXBF" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

The French dating app that lets you track down people you passed on the street seems like a stalker's dream - CLONE

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Happn is the latest addition to the app-based dating scene. It secured $8 million of funding to get underway, founder Didier Rappaport told Business Insider <keyword id="6354868" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="UK">UK</keyword>, and now boasts close to 2 million downloads and 700,000 active monthly users. Around a third of those are in London.</p>
<p>Some have vilified the French app and suggested it could be a stalker's dream. After all, Happn helps you note random people who you've walked past, or queued for a coffee behind at Pret, and track them down. "This happn app is taking stalking to the next level," <a href="https://twitter.com/dannyskinner_93/status/531541013861761024">wrote Danny Skinner on Twitter.</a> </p>
<p>Rather than liking random people to match with in your general location (like Tinder), Happn uses GPS to connect users who cross paths within a 250 metre radius. So, whoever you encounter (knowingly or not) and like the look of, you can see if they're on Happn and tap the app's "heart" symbol to show your interest. If they heart you back then the dating begins. </p>
<p>Happn works in a timeline system, so whoever you encounter most recently appears highest on your feed. There's no swiping, and if you want to push things forward and grab someone's attention - rather than wait for them to "heart" you - you can send them a "charm." There's a small fee involved for men who want to send out charms.</p>
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<p>When compared with other dating apps like Tinder, Rappaport says "there's a huge difference."</p>
<p>"Happn uses hyper-location and works in real time," he says. "It's not like Tinder - sure, the swipe is clever, good marketing, but Happn has more to it. It's instant and simple, but allows people to express themselves and build a more substantial profile."</p>
<p>I signed up to the app this morning and immediately saw my Happn feed fill up with the women around me. <span>I didn't recognise any women on the streets around me at lunchtime</span>e - but that could definitely happen to those less intrigued by free alcohol-based sweets at Old Street station.</p>
<p>Back in the office, I discovered the women I work close to, those who might frequent the same bars after a busy day, and people I probably commute alongside. In a slower, more old-fashioned world (or in a film) they'd be the women I might actually strike up a conversation with. </p>
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<p>There's a lot of information about people available on Happn, acquired simply by walking past someone for a fleeting moment, so it does appear to be an obvious tool for stalkers. You can see who you just walked past and where, how old they are, what they do for a living, how far away they are now, and even exactly when your paths crossed. But then any dating app is likely to attract oddballs. <a href="https://twitter.com/weirdosoftinder">Just look at Tinder.</a> And, as Rappaport told me, the service allows you to block people, report foul play, and file official complaints. He said it was developed with only dating in mind.</p>
<p>"Happn puts the romanticism and spontaneity back into dating," he said. "You can use it when you meet someone and want to see them again. Or maybe you see them all the time but have never been able to say hello. Perhaps she/he works in the same area, or you met her at a party. You can discover the people around you. <span>You might meet someone on the train and want to talk to them, but can't. Happn isn't a game. It's enriching. There's room for experimentation."</span> </p>
<p>So in 2015, instead of letting that would-be date get away because you lost his/her number, or fluffed your lines at the bar, you can find them on Happn and get a second chance. </p>
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<p>Rappaport told me that he thought up the idea when perusing dating sites online. There, connecting with others takes time, and entering reams of information is tiresome. Instead, he said, Happn takes the best part of that and makes it instantaneous. </p>
<p>"We are putting the reality into the online world," Rappaport explained. "It's an experience. If you are visiting an exhibition or a museum you can check Happn and see who else is there with you. You'd find who else is there. It stores them in the app."</p>
<p>Rappaport also mentioned that Happn is doing well. Its user base is increasing every month, and in addition to the $8 million raised previously from <a href="http://www.dccapitalpartners.com/">DC Capital in London,</a> there are plans to gain further investment this year. Happn is already in Paris, London, New York, Sydney, and parts of South America, and the team wants to see it expand internationally in the next year or so.</p>

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