"Mamba" Promises Not to Engage in "Aggressive Monetization of Loneliness"

As "Mamba" CEO Andrey Bronetsky told RBC, the service plans to increase subscription prices this year. He did not specify the exact amount, only noting that it would be "slightly less than 1,000 rubles" per month. Currently, a "Mamba" subscription averages 800 rubles.

"We haven't adjusted our prices for several years. Right now, they're among the lowest on the market. But since the general economic situation is changing quite dynamically, we plan to make a small price adjustment this year," Bronetsky said. He also noted that their main competitor, Tinder, has subscriptions that "can cost three times more, depending on the package."

According to App Annie's Q3 2021 estimates (the latest available data), "Mamba" ranked fourth among dating apps in Russia by downloads, unique audience size, and user spending. Tinder was first in user spending, followed by Ok.ru and Badoo.

Bronetsky said "Mamba" is a profitable company, with its main revenue, like all dating services, coming from user payments for additional features bundled in subscriptions. The share of paying users at "Mamba" is 7%. This figure "has never been above 10% or below 4-5%," a company representative said. "Mamba's" advertising revenue is "minimal," at around 10%.

Bronetsky noted that the company is considering ways to increase the number of paying users but plans to segment the audience more precisely and offer differentiated pricing based on gender, age, and location, which should allow them to "better tailor the price to each specific segment."

"We have a lot of free functionality, which allows people to meet. Those who want additional features pay for them. This creates a sustainable business with a large number of loyal users. Life works in different ways: sometimes people meet, live together for several years, and then return to us. There are many such cases," the CEO said.

According to SPARK, the revenue of "Mamba's" main Russian legal entity (ZAO "Mamba") in 2020 was 1 billion rubles, with a net profit of 56.5 million rubles. The company is owned by Cyprus-based Haslop Company Limited, whose owners, according to the Cypriot registry of legal entities, are Andrey Bronetsky (0.99% of ordinary shares and all Class A shares), Bermuda-based Smalls 2012 Ltd (67.8% of ordinary shares), and Netherlands-based Mail.ru Holdings BV (31.2% of ordinary shares). The company itself lists Bronetsky, "Finam," and VK (formerly Mail.ru Group) among its shareholders.

According to App Annie, global user spending on dating apps last year totaled 4 billion, while in Russia, it exceeded 30 million (2.21 billion rubles at the average exchange rate). Andrey Bronetsky believes this figure was even higher—around $45 million.

According to Bronetsky, since "Mamba" is a long-standing internet project, it has about 70 million users. Around 800,000 new users register monthly, including 500,000 from Russia. The service does not delete inactive accounts but makes them "visually unavailable in search/photo voting." The average user is 25-45 years old, with more men registering, though many do so out of curiosity and then remain inactive.

"With the start of the pandemic, there were surges and drops tied to lockdowns. When people were confined at home, there was growth; when they were allowed outside, activity declined. The increase in activity was roughly +/- 10%."

Demand for dating services typically peaks during long holidays when people find themselves alone, realize the need for change, and decide to find a partner. Activity also rises before Valentine's Day and during gender-specific holidays like March 8 and February 23. Certain types of user payments, such as virtual gifts, can double during these periods, meaning user activity converts into revenue growth of tens of percent.

A spam profile on a dating site typically lasts no longer than 30 minutes. Algorithms track certain markers, and prohibited content is also removed manually. Women sometimes engage in schemes to deceive gullible men on dating sites, though such cases are rare in Russia. This is tied to the audience's solvency, which isn't very high in the country.

Scammers aim to move users off the platform to messengers, where they can manipulate them more easily. As for other crimes, like prostitution or pedophilia, there are no services in Russia that openly facilitate them. However, this doesn't mean such users don't exist—they may disguise themselves, pass moderation temporarily, and then try to exploit the platform.

"The dating market in Russia is quite stable, with almost no new offerings. Overseas, the main player is Match Group Inc. (Tinder's owner—RBC). If something new and interesting appears, Match Group quickly identifies and acquires it. For example, in the UK, a Muslim dating service was developed, and Match Group tried to buy it but was refused. They then filed a lawsuit, claiming the new service used swipes—a technology exclusive to Match Group. In theory, they could force 'Mamba' to change its swipe mechanics too, for example, by emphasizing button-based voting more. But so far, they haven't approached us."

"In Russia, Tinder is seen as a premium product—a way to meet someone from Europe or the U.S. When 'Mamba' launched 15 years ago, it was also a premium product because few people were online back then. Internet users were more tech-savvy, so the audience was high-quality. Over time, we became a regular dating site. Now, if you go to the U.S., Tinder is just seen as a 'hookup app,' and the audience is mixed, so it's lost its premium status."

"Lately, all players have been trying to implement video technology. 'Chat roulettes,' where people find someone to talk to immediately, are growing in popularity. This model differs from Tinder, where you have to like someone, wait for a mutual match, and only then start chatting. In chat roulettes, you get a conversation partner right away, solving the problem for those who feel lonely at that moment. There have been attempts to launch dating services within messengers, but none have succeeded."

"Mamba's weakness is that it isn't seen as an international service, even though there's demand for such dating in Russia. Our strength is that, unlike many others, we don't engage in aggressive monetization of loneliness. Most features are free, which ultimately earns us our audience's goodwill. Tinder's rating on Google Play in Russia is 2.5 stars (3.7 on the App Store—RBC), while 'Mamba' has 4-4.5 stars, depending on the platform."

"Currently, 70% of our revenue comes from Russia, 10% from CIS countries, and 20% from elsewhere. We plan to continue expanding geographically. The advantage of internet companies is that you can create a service and scale easily—no licenses or other formalities are needed to enter new markets."

"The main goal for most users is to escape the oppressive feeling of loneliness. For many, just chatting is enough. Society has changed—at 25, people used to try to start families, but now they're more likely to look for interesting people to spend time with. Despite the many players and offerings on the market, loneliness in society isn't decreasing. It even feels like people are becoming more and more lonely, so the dating market still has work to do and problems to solve. For example, if Yandex teaches its voice assistant 'Alisa' to hold long, coherent conversations and offer empathy, it could be bad news for dating sites. It's possible that in the future, people will meet in the metaverse (a concept referring to a collection of digital worlds—RBC). Traditional dating services will have to innovate to attract lonely users under these conditions."

"There's a category of people who stay on dating sites for years. As the age of marriage has shifted, more people are endlessly browsing and searching. Some stay a long time because they can't find a partner for various reasons but get empathy from chatting. Registering on a dating site won't help those with very high standards for partners—it'll only lead to negativity because the internet is generally much more cynical."

"Another category is people who join dating services for self-promotion, often linking to their Instagram. Many platforms encourage this because it creates attractive content. Some competitors have up to 30% of such profiles."

"Those looking only for 'quick encounters' aren't very numerous. On our platform, for example, it's not convenient to search just for sex. There are specialized platforms where that's much easier and faster."

"But we still believe in real, happy stories. My friends, my wife's friends, and even our former COO (who worked with us for ten years) found their partners on dating sites—they're still together and have two kids. In Russia, hundreds of thousands of families have been formed through online dating."

"Every year, attitudes toward online dating become more accepting. Even high-status, affluent users join these sites. Public figures do too, though they're fewer. Overseas, there's a profession called 'matchmaker.' These specialists take requests from public figures who don't want it known that they're looking for a partner. The matchmaker creates profiles with fake photos, conducts initial chats, and then presents the options to the client—sometimes even meeting them first. In the U.S., this is a whole market, with matchmakers charging up to $40,000–50,000. In Russia, Pyotr Listerman once offered this service for premium clients, but now it's mostly used by scammers."

"In Russia, men typically message first. If a man is interested in dating, he's more proactive. If a woman is young (under 25–30), she gets so much attention that she can barely keep up with replies. Over time, this ratio changes. But if a woman messages first, there's nothing wrong with that."

"Bumble (an American company that owns the eponymous dating service and Badoo—RBC) took this further by emphasizing a feminist approach: even if two people match, the man still can't message first. Only the woman can decide whether to write. This supposedly protects her from unwanted advances. Though I’m sure men in the U.S. would prefer to initiate contact too. Still, Bumble’s revenue is fine—last year, it was $400 million. They went public recently."

"As for LGBTQ+ dating in Russia, 'Mamba' has few such users. They prefer specialized platforms, usually international ones. There are no strong local players for them in Russia. Some existed before but couldn’t compete globally."