Two-year-old online dating services start-up TwoMangoes has raised an undisclosed angel funding from Andy Jasuja, the co-founder, chairman & CEO of Sigma Systems, an IP solutions services company. The dating portal will use the funds to scale up its user base and develop mobile and Internet apps to reach out to more people.
The funds are expected to last for about a year and after that, the firm will be looking to raise series A funding of about $3 million.
Targeted at the South Asians across the globe, TwoMangoes launched its India operations a couple of weeks ago. The company already has a presence in the USA, Canada, the UK, Australia and the UAE.
TwoMangoes is co-founded by Anita Dharamshi, Rahul Bhardwaj, Richa Jain and Paras Dharamshi. All of them, as well as the angel investor, are alumni of the University of Waterloo.
A pass-out from the Institute of Technology (Varanasi, India) and University of Waterloo, Jasuja began his career with TCS in 1975. Prior to founding Sigma, he held various technical and management positions in banking and telecom sectors.
Anita Dharamshi had previously worked with BMO Nesbitt Burns, Sigma Software Solutions and Matrixx Networks Inc. She had also co-founded Kismet, a South Asian wedding fashion show and magazine based in North America.
Rahul Bharadwaj had worked with Leitch Technologies, Research In Motion and Infusion Development in the early years of his career. He had founded companies like Vayyoo Inc, TwitBiz, EPIC Technology and DataSmartLabs before incubating TwoMangoes.
Paras Dharamshi had been associated with MediaServ, ePhysician, MobileQ, Sigma Systems and Matrixx Networks Inc., and co-founded companies like Kismet and Simpro Solutions Inc.
Talking exclusively to Techcircle.in, Rahul Bharadwaj one of the co-founders of TwoMangoes said, “Right now, with a fantastic team of seven including the four co-founders, we are concentrating on the data-building process on the public beta domain.”
Unlike traditional dating sites, the start-up aims to bring a new approach and perspective – ‘click, connect and meet’ before marriage. The portal encourages singles to meet in a non-invasive environment, putting emphasis on the ‘getting to know’ stage of a relationship and not simply on marriage.
The e-venture generates revenues through subscription although the initial registration and the first few messages come for free. TwoMangoes follows three types of subscription model, and one can opt for either a pre-paid or a post-paid package. Users can opt for a pre-paid service worth Rs 60 which allows them to initiate a few questions. The second one costs Rs 450 for a few more questions and it is valid for a few days. Then there is the Rs 650 post-paid plan where one can get unlimited services for a month including unlimited chat, constant customer support, virtual gifts and profile reviews.
The company claims it has acquired a few thousand users within a few weeks of the launch of its India edition.