The article “Top 5 Chinese LGBT Apps in 2017” was written by Timmy Shen for TechNode.
Believe it or not, China has a vibrant LGBT app scene, with a number of dating apps catering to the estimated tens of millions of people in China’s LGBT community. Although authorities issued regulations in 2016 banning the depiction of homosexual relationships in television dramas and web series (in Chinese), the LGBT dating app sector is nonetheless booming.
Here are the latest networking apps for the LGBT community in China.
Blued
Screenshot from the App Store
Blued emerged from the LGBT NGO Danlan in 2012 and has since been invested in six rounds of funding, including the latest C++ round from the investment arm of the state-backed newspaper group The Beijing News.
Blued has over 27 million registered users, according to its official website, of which about 20% live abroad. The China-born app has its sights set on the overseas market in particular. It has opened offices in Europe and Southeast Asia, covers over 190 countries and regions, and is available in 11 languages. In December 2016, Blued even made a strategic investment in US dating app Hornet to penetrate the North American and Latin American markets. As part of the deal, Blued invested an undisclosed amount as an extension of Hornet’s $8 million Series A funding round announced in November 2016.
On the other hand, Blued has been making profits thanks to its thriving live streaming feature and its mobile marketing business. In the growth of the live streaming sector in 2016, Blued ranked 13th among all Chinese apps (across all industries) that had live streaming features, according to a report by Cheetah Global Lab released earlier this year.
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However, there is one thing the app needs to pay more attention to when it comes to live streaming: Zank, Blued’s former competitor, was shut down by authorities in April due to explicit content during live streaming (in Chinese) and has not reopened yet.
LESDO
Screenshot from the App Store
LESDO (乐Do) is probably the largest dating app for lesbians in China with 1.5 million users. Founded by a team of lesbian women, the startup was launched in 2012 and the app was launched in 2013.
In 2014, the app received private funding from GSR Ventures and the following year raised several million dollars in pre-A funding led by IVP, SOSVentures and Linear.
LESDO is not just a social networking app. It has also created its own web dramas. Its 34-minute mini-film, Miss you alwayswas viewed 1.36 million times on iQiyi, China’s largest video streaming site.
Aloha
Screenshot of Aloha
Aloha is a social networking app for gay men. It borrows Tinder’s “swipe” feature. Users swipe left for “nope” and right for “aloha” to be matched with other men nearby.
Aloha, Blued’s biggest competitor in China, is best known for its user-friendly photo-sharing UI design, making it more than just a dating app with Tinder and Instagram-like features in one.
lespark
LesPark (拉拉公园), LESDO’s biggest competitor, is a dating app for lesbian women. The app is known for its live streaming feature and has millions of registered users.
It is worth noting that LesPark’s parent company has also launched an LGBT “matchmaking” app called Queers, a networking app for gays and lesbians to find partners for sham marriages or “marriages of convenience.”
the L
Launched in December 2012, L is one of the leading location-based dating apps for lesbians in China.
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It is interesting to note that L has also produced its own web drama to attract more users, just like LESDO. The company released The L-Bangwhich describes the everyday life of some young women who get to know each other through the L and live together in a big city in China.
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The article “Top 5 Chinese LGBT Apps in 2017” first appeared on TechNode.
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The article “Top 5 Chinese LGBT Apps in 2017” first appeared on e27.
