Flirtic.com raises funding to transform online dating

Flirtic.com, a dating service designed for the social media generation, has raised a venture round from Almaz Capital Partners to finance a roll-out into English and Russian-speaking markets. The company has also appointed April Henry, Senior Vice President of Myspace, as an Independent Board Member.

Flirtic.com makes dating more social and flirtatious, giving users the ability to express themselves more easily in order to find their perfect match. Flirtic incorporates the most popular and addictive features of social networks, including messaging, wall posting, 'likes' and entertaining games and quizzes. These features make it easy for even the shyest and most cautious would-be date to engage with new people, break the ice and start conversations.

Unlike other dating sites, Flirtic.com requires no long, boring questionnaires to be completed. Instead, users set up their dynamic profile by playing interactive games and taking quick, entertaining tests.

“Flirtic offers a dating experience very different from existing dating sites,” said Andres Susi, Flirtic CEO. “We want to make dating playful, not painful. The games and tests on Flirtic provide singles with great, natural ways to start a conversation while also helping us to match them with other singles based on their personalities, tastes and interests.”

April Henry, Senior VP of Myspace and Independent Board Member of Flirtic, said: “Old forms of dating no longer work for young people who have grown up using social media to stay in touch. They’re unwilling to answer endless questions to create their profile, or to endure hours of scanning boring, one-dimensional profiles to find someone they’d like to meet. Flirtic.com has found a way to inject the playfulness of social networking into online dating to make it more flirtatious and fun again. With 30% of Flirtic users returning every day, it’s clear that this is exactly what the audience was waiting for.”

“Flirtic has a very strong team with significant experience in building and managing social consumer services,” said Alexander Galitsky, Managing Partner of Almaz Capital Partners, “and April’s appointment will be crucial to achieving their vision of transforming traditional dating into a more engaging experience for today’s audience.”

Flirtic, which targets the 18-35 year old online dating audience, launched in Estonia and Russia in early 2011 where it quickly showed user traction. Flirtic.com will roll-out in English and Russian-speaking markets over the coming months.

The company is led by the team of Estonian entrepreneurs behind Rate Solutions, a leading social networking company in the Baltic countries. Its shareholders include Andrei Korobeinik and Evgeny Pshenichnikov, serial entrepreneurs and founders of Rate Solutions, as well as technology investment company MTVP and angel investor Jaak Roosipuu. The team was also recently strengthened by the addition of Nicola Riordan who will assist Flirtic in marketing to build traction and acquire new users. Nicola previously led marketing for TweetDeck and headed up product and customer journey marketing at Skype.

Andres Susi, CEO of Flirtic, is also a successful serial entrepreneur. He co-founded Cherry Media, the largest daily deal company in Baltic States, and previously held the role of CEO at Playforia, the leading online gaming company in Finland and Baltic States. Andres also served as a board member with several of MTVP’s portfolio companies.