Coffee Meets Bagel, a dating app that gives customers one potential match every 24 hours, has received $7.8 million of Series A funding to pay for new hires and to expand the locations it serves, the company said in a statement.
Existing investor DCM Ventures led the round, and was joined by Quest Ventures and Azure Capital. DCM general partner Osuke Honda joined the company’s board.
Coffee Meets Bagel, originally launched in New York and Boston and now headquartered in San Francisco, has users sign up for its service through social media services such as Facebook. It uses an algorithm to match users with friends of their mutual friends. The company doesn’t charge for the basic service, though it charges for some premium services, such as showing who the mutual friends are, the company’s founders said on the ABC show Shark Tank in January.
Founded by sisters Soo, Arum, and Dawoon Kang in 2012, Coffee Meets Bagel didn’t get an investment deal on Shark Tank—they offered 5 percent equity for $500,000—though billionaire Mark Cuban did ask them if they would sell the business for $30 million, if he offered that. The owners said they wouldn’t.
The company has previously received $2.8 million in funding, the founders said on Shark Tank. Previous investors include Lightbank, Match.com founder Peng Ong, WI Harper Group, and Venture Lounge, the company said in the statement.
