Eldar Rustamov

Badoo

Date honestly In April 2006, Andrey Andreev launched Badoo as the first free dating site that combined photo albums with instant messaging. During this time, most dating platforms required paid memberships and had limited photo or messaging support. In 2007, Badoo introduced "Encounters" where users could vote yes or no on cards of other users The site quickly became popular through word of mouth in markets like Spain, France, Italy, Brazil, and Turkey. In 2009, Badoo innovated premium features and services that are still industry standard within the world of dating and social network. During this time, Badoo introduced features like virtual gifts, the ability to "rise up" in the search results or ability to see "who likes you". These early innovations enabled Badoo to run a profitable business from its earliest years. In 2010, Badoo launched and scaled the first modern mobile dating apps on iOS and Android that leveraged GPS technology with its new feature "People Nearby", which allowed users to see other people in their surrounding area. This enabled users to find people to meet as they were out and about in the world. The mass adoption of this feature enabled Badoo to define the modern mobile era of dating as we know it today. The technology of Badoo became the backbone of MagicLab's shared infrastructure, which is now leveraged across MagicLab's family of brands like Bumble, Chappy, Lumen, and more to come. Through MagicLab's efforts, Badoo has been able to launch features like photo verification to eliminate catfishing from the service. Badoo today is a community of over 425 million people representing people of all pasts and backgrounds. Badoo has some of the richest interactions in the industry, including features like video chat, live-streaming, rich messaging, and more. In 2019, the brand relaunched around the tagline "Date honestly" as the platform that enables people to authentically express who they are and what they really want.