Here’s the update on Badoo from LeWeb ’11 today, via Tech Crunch.
Badoo is a curious success story, if only for how little recognition or even awareness it has for its success. Badoo works like a social network based on location – you can find other users around you and connect with them or meet up. Founder Andrey Andreev explained that the concept was based on a telephone club he once visited, where each table was hooked up with a phone and a number. You could call the other tables and arrange to meet other people in the same bar. The concept was pretty seamlessly translated into an app and Andreev is now running a company with $100 million in revenue, 130 million users and 400 employees worldwide. It is particularly popular in the Latin American market, with Brazil and Mexico ranking among its most popular countries.
Though I’m not sure of the possibility of the app’s growth, Andreev is optimistic and claimed that he wanted to eventually run the company to be worth $100 billion!
$100 BILLION dollars for a scammy and spammy full-o-fakes hookup service? Is anyone else as incredulous about the prospects of this happening as I am? Sounds like someone has been watching The Social Network a few too many times.
Add Adult Friend Finder to the list of company’s Badoo is crushing, although Friend Finder Networks seems to be making a lot of their revenue from camgirls right now. Like it or not, that market is ridiculously-ripe for growth and opportunity.
