"People date up to a certain age, then stop playing this game"
Original article published in Forbes magazine
Author: Maxim Spiridonov
Not long ago, online dating in the Russian internet was one of the most lucrative and promising sectors of the online business. Alongside the gaming industry, it provided stable, diversified revenue with little dependence on external economic factors. However, some observers now have doubts. Will this continue? We spoke with Andrey Bronetsky, CEO of the unified dating and social service Mamba, about money and the state of the Russian dating scene today.
— How serious a threat do social networks pose to you today?
"I don’t consider them the biggest threat because social networks are web-only. The faster-growing segment—the one better suited for dating—is mobile. I strongly believe that in 2-3 years, our mobile audience will at least match, if not surpass, our entire web audience."
— Still, social networks are putting pressure on you, and some doubt dating services have bright prospects.
"I think you're exaggerating. Competition is increasing year by year, the number of quality online services is growing, and user attention is scattered. When there were only a few good services, competing was much easier. Users had to choose between just two platforms. Five or six years ago, people would hang out on Mamba and chat with friends. When social networks emerged, that phenomenon faded. But we’re still growing—we have our niche."
— For many, Mamba is a service dominated by very 'casual' relationships…
"I know what you mean. It’s a big problem for us, and we’re constantly fighting it. The issue is that active users leave a strong impression—they shock, they stand out. When everything is gray, anything bright catches the eye."
— Are you a prisoner of your own function? Ideally, the service is for finding a life partner, but instead, it’s short-term contacts, quick hookups.
"If you’re referring to the commercial aspect of these relationships, it’s been trailing behind us. But I believe we can move away from it."
— How many employees do you have now?
"Over 100. The largest team is developers, followed by user support, then management. A small group handles administrative tasks. We all work in the office."
— Mamba was bought by Finam from Andrey Andreev. Did you have to restructure the company, or was it turnkey?
"When Andreev sold the company, he sold the business processes but took all key employees. There was no technical team left to maintain the project. We had to start from scratch—hire people, train them on someone else’s code. It took nearly a year."
— How popular was Mamba at the time of purchase? Did it have strong financials?
"It was an efficient, leading, fast-growing business. Back then, there was no competition, no social networks. Mamba grew despite technical issues, slow performance, and inconsistent content moderation. Users had no alternative—it was the Wow effect."
— Mamba has changed a lot since Finam bought it. What key milestones stand out?
"Many. Five to seven years ago, nobody knew Mamba. Our key partners were Love.Rambler and Love.Mail.ru. The system was huge, growing, but Mamba was invisible. We inherited the product from Andreev without a manual. It took time to learn how to manage it, fix growth issues, differentiate from competitors, promote the brand, and carve out a niche."
— How do you work with partner sites? This strategy largely defined Mamba’s success.
"We built a functional, high-quality product, but it lacked an audience. So, we partnered with major platforms that were booming but lacked dating services. It was trendy to add a subsection using our tech for monetization. Today, we have over 30,000 partners, with Mail.ru (also a shareholder) and Rambler being key. Still, Mamba.com is now second only to Mail.ru."
— So, your growth relied on big partners? Later, you worked to make Mamba more independent?
"Exactly. There was a risk a major partner might say, 'Enough, I’ll build my own.' But no one left—instead, Mail.ru bought a stake."
— Did you try working with Yandex?
"We talked, but Yandex has its own approach—they monetize businesses, not users. We respect that."
— Is this business profitable for partners?
"How could it not be? About 70% of people seek partners at some point. Big platforms can either build their own dating service or use ours and earn cash. Unless they think they can do it better, it’s a no-brainer."
— What’s the typical Mamba user profile today?
"We’re not as big as social networks—we focus only on dating, not general communication. Our audience skews young and male. People date until a certain age, then stop."
— What’s the split between user payments and ads?
"User payments are 80% of revenue. Ads aren’t critical—we could drop them, but we keep developing this stream."
— You recently added video chat. Doesn’t it interfere with 'blind dating'?
"On the contrary—it’s very effective. At launch, we had 100,000 daily connections. Now, sessions are fewer but longer and higher-quality. People understand how to use it."
— MonAmour is for serious relationships, implying Mamba isn’t.
"Correct. MonAmour is for marriage. Mamba is for flirting—closer to real life. People meet, chat, date, maybe live together. They’re not desperate 35-year-olds 'needing a spouse and kids.' They’re just living, finding partners like they would at a club or on the street. It’s not 'not serious'—it’s flirting."
— Some say Mamba is a hub for sex addicts and sex workers, that you enable and corrupt a generation. Your response?
"It hurts, though no one says it to my face. We fight explicit content aggressively. My stance: if healthy adults date and do what nature intended, that’s better than vodka or drugs."
— Rumor says you’re eyeing the West. True?
"Not necessarily the West—maybe the East. Our product is competitive. Expansion could boost company size and revenue."
— Does 'East' mean avoiding a head-on clash with Andreev’s Badoo?
"You overestimate Andreev’s reach. Badoo is strong in Latin America, Italy, Spain, and France—weak in the U.S., UK, Germany, and Asia. Competing only with him is the wrong way to look at it."
— Any interesting upcoming services, like Poputchiki (travel companions)?
"We experiment. We recently launched an API—not for games, but for dating apps. Partners suggest ideas, and now they can build specialized apps. Mobile will dominate future developments."
— What’s your forecast for dating in RuNet and globally?
"Subscription dating will decline. Our freemium model will dominate because mobile devices are more personal than PCs. High-quality photos matter most—after that, dating happens. Dating will migrate to mobile and become free."
"I don’t consider them the biggest threat because social networks are web-only. The faster-growing segment—the one better suited for dating—is mobile. I strongly believe that in 2-3 years, our mobile audience will at least match, if not surpass, our entire web audience."
— Still, social networks are putting pressure on you, and some doubt dating services have bright prospects.
"I think you're exaggerating. Competition is increasing year by year, the number of quality online services is growing, and user attention is scattered. When there were only a few good services, competing was much easier. Users had to choose between just two platforms. Five or six years ago, people would hang out on Mamba and chat with friends. When social networks emerged, that phenomenon faded. But we’re still growing—we have our niche."
— For many, Mamba is a service dominated by very 'casual' relationships…
"I know what you mean. It’s a big problem for us, and we’re constantly fighting it. The issue is that active users leave a strong impression—they shock, they stand out. When everything is gray, anything bright catches the eye."
— Are you a prisoner of your own function? Ideally, the service is for finding a life partner, but instead, it’s short-term contacts, quick hookups.
"If you’re referring to the commercial aspect of these relationships, it’s been trailing behind us. But I believe we can move away from it."
— How many employees do you have now?
"Over 100. The largest team is developers, followed by user support, then management. A small group handles administrative tasks. We all work in the office."
— Mamba was bought by Finam from Andrey Andreev. Did you have to restructure the company, or was it turnkey?
"When Andreev sold the company, he sold the business processes but took all key employees. There was no technical team left to maintain the project. We had to start from scratch—hire people, train them on someone else’s code. It took nearly a year."
— How popular was Mamba at the time of purchase? Did it have strong financials?
"It was an efficient, leading, fast-growing business. Back then, there was no competition, no social networks. Mamba grew despite technical issues, slow performance, and inconsistent content moderation. Users had no alternative—it was the Wow effect."
— Mamba has changed a lot since Finam bought it. What key milestones stand out?
"Many. Five to seven years ago, nobody knew Mamba. Our key partners were Love.Rambler and Love.Mail.ru. The system was huge, growing, but Mamba was invisible. We inherited the product from Andreev without a manual. It took time to learn how to manage it, fix growth issues, differentiate from competitors, promote the brand, and carve out a niche."
— How do you work with partner sites? This strategy largely defined Mamba’s success.
"We built a functional, high-quality product, but it lacked an audience. So, we partnered with major platforms that were booming but lacked dating services. It was trendy to add a subsection using our tech for monetization. Today, we have over 30,000 partners, with Mail.ru (also a shareholder) and Rambler being key. Still, Mamba.com is now second only to Mail.ru."
— So, your growth relied on big partners? Later, you worked to make Mamba more independent?
"Exactly. There was a risk a major partner might say, 'Enough, I’ll build my own.' But no one left—instead, Mail.ru bought a stake."
— Did you try working with Yandex?
"We talked, but Yandex has its own approach—they monetize businesses, not users. We respect that."
— Is this business profitable for partners?
"How could it not be? About 70% of people seek partners at some point. Big platforms can either build their own dating service or use ours and earn cash. Unless they think they can do it better, it’s a no-brainer."
— What’s the typical Mamba user profile today?
"We’re not as big as social networks—we focus only on dating, not general communication. Our audience skews young and male. People date until a certain age, then stop."
— What’s the split between user payments and ads?
"User payments are 80% of revenue. Ads aren’t critical—we could drop them, but we keep developing this stream."
— You recently added video chat. Doesn’t it interfere with 'blind dating'?
"On the contrary—it’s very effective. At launch, we had 100,000 daily connections. Now, sessions are fewer but longer and higher-quality. People understand how to use it."
— MonAmour is for serious relationships, implying Mamba isn’t.
"Correct. MonAmour is for marriage. Mamba is for flirting—closer to real life. People meet, chat, date, maybe live together. They’re not desperate 35-year-olds 'needing a spouse and kids.' They’re just living, finding partners like they would at a club or on the street. It’s not 'not serious'—it’s flirting."
— Some say Mamba is a hub for sex addicts and sex workers, that you enable and corrupt a generation. Your response?
"It hurts, though no one says it to my face. We fight explicit content aggressively. My stance: if healthy adults date and do what nature intended, that’s better than vodka or drugs."
— Rumor says you’re eyeing the West. True?
"Not necessarily the West—maybe the East. Our product is competitive. Expansion could boost company size and revenue."
— Does 'East' mean avoiding a head-on clash with Andreev’s Badoo?
"You overestimate Andreev’s reach. Badoo is strong in Latin America, Italy, Spain, and France—weak in the U.S., UK, Germany, and Asia. Competing only with him is the wrong way to look at it."
— Any interesting upcoming services, like Poputchiki (travel companions)?
"We experiment. We recently launched an API—not for games, but for dating apps. Partners suggest ideas, and now they can build specialized apps. Mobile will dominate future developments."
— What’s your forecast for dating in RuNet and globally?
"Subscription dating will decline. Our freemium model will dominate because mobile devices are more personal than PCs. High-quality photos matter most—after that, dating happens. Dating will migrate to mobile and become free."