Uncategorized
Acquisitions / Business / Lifestyle

HowAboutWe gets acquired, in part, by media giant IAC

Internet conglomerate InterActiveCorp (IAC) buys HowAboutWe's singles vertical, but leaves the couples product in Brooklyn.

Attendees listen in at TWO5SIX 2014. (Photo by Brady Dale)

HowAboutWe, the Dumbo-based dating site that focuses on what people would like to do on a date rather than whether or not they are swipe-worthy, has been acquired by giant online media company InterActiveCorp (IAC), which also owns basically every other dating site that anyone ever talks about: Match.com, OKCupid and Tinder. The acquisition was reported in The New York Times.

In fact, once you look into it, its hard to see much of the Internet that the company doesn’t own.

Interestingly, while IAC has acquired HowAboutWe’s singles site (and the media brands the startup launched or bought) it has not acquired the couples site, which was a big emphasis when we talked to one of its founders last fall.

The couples vertical was perhaps the biggest dating-world innovation by cofounders Aaron Schildkrout and Brian Schechter, in that it worked to hold onto members once they found relationships. The couples site aims to facilitate meaningful dates that make relationships stronger.

We’ve reached out to the company to find out more about the transition but haven’t heard back. The NYT story makes it sound as if the acquired parts of the company will move to IAC’s Frank Gehry designed HQ in Chelsea. Since only part of the company has been acquired, the Times reports, “As a result, only a portion of HowAboutWe employees will move to IAC, according to two people who would speak only under the condition of anonymity. Other employees will remain with the Couples business, while some have been laid off, these people said.”

The terms of deal were not disclosed.

Companies: HowAboutWe
Series: Brooklyn
Engagement

Join the conversation!

Find news, events, jobs and people who share your interests on Technical.ly's open community Slack

Trending
Technically Media