Tantan Will Monetise Later This Year After Closing $70m Series D

Having this week closed its $70m Series D funding round, Tantan has announced plans to start monetising its location-based dating app later this year.

Tantan will release a VIP membership in Q3 of 2017, the company’s CEO Wang Yu said this week.

The Chinese dating app’s massive Series D round was led by both YY Inc, as we reported earlier this month, and Genesis Capital, with participation from SAIF and Zhongwei Capital.

This takes Tantan’s total funding to $120m.

Speaking to TechNode this week, CEO Wang Yu said the app plans to use the funding to explore artificial intelligence and launch in new markets.

Asked whether it was planning, after much speculation, to IPO, Yu said: “We do not have a specific timetable for IPO. Going public or not is largely determined by the development stage of our core businesses.

“Currently, we will put our primary focus on user growth. When you have tens of millions daily active users, IPO would become a natural step.”

The app has 6m DAUs, its CEO revealed, and around 60m total users – 75% of who are aged between 18 and 27.

The Chinese dating app uses a swiping functionality like Tinder, as well as using an icebreaker “question game” to help singles get to know each other, details on how many times you have passed potential matches, and a photo-based Moments section.

Read more about the app here.