The app that lets you swipe through prospective partners is Wheeling and dealing. Tinder has announced an acquisition of Wheel, a video startup whose primary offering resembles Snapchat’s Stories.
Wheel has been working on a mobile-friendly video product since its 2015 inception. The most intriguing detail about the startup is the list of its investors, which according to Variety includes a pair of notable online video venture capitalists: Maker Studios backer Mark Suster and Machinima founder Allen Debevoise.
With its new toy, Tinder could give its single-and-ready-to-mingle users a new way to connect with each other. “We are always exploring new ways to innovate while helping our users make connections on Tinder,” said Tinder head of product and revenue Brian Norgard. “I’m excited Paul [Boukadakis, the CEO of Wheel] is joining our product team to drive special initiatives that leverage his experience connecting people around innovative content.”
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Video integration has always seemed like a logical step for dating apps, but Tinder could be the first major player in its industry to move in that direction. YouTube started as a dating service before pivoting to its current function, but that was 12 years ago, and the online dating landscape has evolved enough that prospective partners might be interested in swapping videos with each other before meeting up IRL.
Financial details of Tinder’s Wheel acquisition were not disclosed.
