Coffee Meets Bagel (CMB), an online dating app was launched in 2012 by sister trio Arum, Dawoon and Soo Kang. What set them apart from the competition is, it was designed to match using mutual friends, which helped alleviate anxiety and uncertainty from the online dating process.
Basic services were always free, however, premium services can be unlocked using their virtual currency in the form of coffee beans. For example, one of the more popular premium feature was to reveal their mutual friend for about 95 coffee beans or ~0.50¢.
In 2015, the Kang sisters appeared on Shark Tanks offering 5% equity in exchange for USD 500,000. None of the investors took their bid. In fact, they even turned down a USD 30 million buyout offer from billionaire Mark Cuban, the largest sum ever offered to an entrepreneur on Shark Tank until then.
Fast forward five years, in 2020 CMB managed to raise USD 23.2 million from multiple investors through various rounds. The app is available across multiple platforms yet has only managed to secure 10 million users after 8 years in the online dating space. And, they don’t make the cut for top 20 dating sites, possible wrench in the business?
Was it the sister’s overconfidence or passion to nurture their brainchild that landed them in this soup? Not to mention, they forewent a lucrative fortune from Mark Cuban. Would you have accepted Mark’s offer? Or what would you have done differently?
