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The work of the Mamba service is built on free user access, with paid provision of additional services, for example, but placing questionnaires on the top lines in search queries. The resource partners are about 36 thousand sites that are able to post questionnaires of their users for a part of the income received.
Performance indicators
2023: Annual revenue doubled to RUB 1.62 billion
Mamba's revenue in 2023 amounted to 1.62 billion rubles against 853.8 million rubles a year earlier (these and other indicators are given in accordance with Russian accounting standards/RAS/). The net profit of the Russian dating service in comparison with the same segments of time increased from 113.8 million to 450.2 million rubles. This is evidenced by the data of the Kontur. Focus service, which TAdviser got acquainted with in December 2024.
It follows from these materials that the cost of sales of Mamba JSC in 2023 reached 700.3 million rubles, an increase from 481 million rubles in 2022. Gross profit of the platform increased 372.8 million to 918.9 million rubles, and profit from sales increased from 176.6 million to 560.4 million rubles.
Mamba's commercial expenses in 2023 amounted to 311.1 million rubles, which exceeds the same costs a year ago at 148.5 million rubles. The company's accounts payable in 2023 decreased from 99.3 million to 94.4 million rubles. Accounts receivable increased from 94.2 million to 238.7 million rubles.
Mamba positions itself as the largest dating service with an audience exceeding 60 million people, where more than 3 million people get to know each day, and every month more than 1 million new questionnaires appear (by the end of 2023). In the summer of 2023, the online dating service Mamba became the most downloaded application in the segment, it accounted for more than 77 thousand downloads per week, or 23.5%.
According to the estimates of the analytical company Sensor Tower, in 2023, Mamba's share in the Russian market for dating services was estimated at 23-28% by the number of downloads of mobile applications. The international analytical portal Statista estimated the volume of the market for dating applications in Russia in 2023 at 4 billion rubles.
History
Victor Remsha says that the dating service Mamba"," they Andreyev thought out together. Then only a service for collecting SMS payments appeared, and it was necessary to understand how it could be used. Andreev believed that, unlike similar services, which required a considerable subscription fee for access to the database of "brides and grooms," registration at Mamba should have been free and anonymous. And he also wanted to play on the vanity of users - to allow them to increase their popularity on the site and, accordingly, the number of profile visits. So the idea of a mechanism to promote questionnaires to the first page for little money was born. For about $1. "Nobody had this," Remsha admires.
Most Russian Internet startups simply copy the Western model. "And Mamba was unique," emphasizes the company's ex-president Nikita Sherman. "Together with the then rare online games, she created a demand for SMS payment." And if Andreev's previous projects were related to advertising, here he decided at least at first to save users from its annoying presence.
Andreev managed the almost impossible: to combine hundreds of dating sites into a partner network with a single database from Mamba, including those owned by direct competitors - Rambler and Mail.ru. Following the mechanism of "raising" the profile, the service "Race for the Leader" appeared - an auction for the most prominent place on the main page of the site. Sherman calls it a way of showing that "you're not one of millions, but one of units." "At peak time, Friday night, the best place will cost $1,000," he says. "Some throw this thousand with one text message."
In February 2005, the manager of the advertising agency Young & Rubicam, Michael Gere, met a dark-haired, skulent guy who was looking for a CEO in his new project. Thirty-year-old Internet entrepreneur Andrei Andreev sat down Gir at the monitor to show the Mamba electronic dating service launched a year earlier. The number of users registered in it exceeded one million and increased by 7,000 every day. Andreev explained that he wants to promote Mamba in the West and this requires the expat team to translate it into foreign languages. This idea never came to fruition.
2024
Start of rebranding
Dating service "Mamba" on December 10, 2024 announced the start of rebranding and presented an updated version of the application, which significantly improved user safety. The upgrade also includes technological upgrades, redesign and positioning. For December 2024, the updated format for finding a half or a friend is available to 10% of the audience, but over the next 3-4 months the platform will be completely updated, offering all users a completely new dating experience.
Global market changes have pushed the service toward significant internal changes. Now the defense mechanisms of the Mamba application begin to work even before registration, leaving spammers with minimal chances. All this is thanks to built-in technology that creates a secure environment for finding a pair: profiles are checked, classified or hit a block if necessary. Algorithms determine the vitality of the user as accurately as possible, and the verification process itself has become 300 times faster.
Neural networks are responsible for successful matchings and analyze the user's behavior - his likes, successful correspondence, profile information, search preferences. The most relevant candidates for a place in the heart will appear in the issuance of questionnaires, which will significantly reduce the time from the first swipe to the meeting.
 | We have invested in technological change, redesign and positioning so that from the first touch with the product, people see and understand that Mamba has become different. We hope that this work will increase the quality of dating and positively affect the loyalty of the audience, - said the general director of Mamba JSC, Andrei Bronetsky. |  |
The logo of the dating platform changed only slightly: it was decided to leave the word Mamba.
Each new like will be a chance to ride with a like-minded person or even a half on the crest of one wave. The main metaphor for the updated design was the wave: its visual image symbolizes the vibes of mutual sympathies between people. The brand offers a human and close to each site for eco-friendly and live communication.
The development of the corporate identity was entrusted to the Schuk brand bureau, which creates creative brand strategies, identity and visual communication for ecosystems and startups from Russia, Europe, North America and Australia. Among the clients are the educational ecosystems Yandex, Skyeng, Lamoda, Avito, the international office of Nike, Halsa and others.
| | For rebranding, we chose the Pike bureau, which has an impressive background, including in the dating niche. Together, we conducted qualitative research, identifying the drivers and barriers of our audience. We also assessed the global trends in design and chose the most relevant option for rebranding. The updated "Mamba" is a human service for warm live communication between people who understand each other, - comments Mamba's marketing director, Olga Morozova. | |
| | For Mamba, we have developed a brand strategy and a visual system that is used in the application interface, digital and outlet communications. The style, based on the concept of "On the Same Wave," conveys the natural atmosphere of trust that "Mamba" creates for users of the service. Aidentica articulates the brand's desire to form an open and friendly community. A simple and bright sign, smooth lines of the logo symbolize the joyful flow of easy communication, and wavy patterns reflect a large circle of possible acquaintances and a unique path that awaits everyone on the way to a healthy relationship, added Ivan Velichko, director of the Pike brand bureau. | |
Entry into the Vietnam market
In mid-July 2024, the Russian dating service Mamba announced its entry into the Vietnamese market. The company sees this country as a promising destination for expanding its presence in Southeast Asia.
According to Mamba CEO Andrei Bronetsky, Vietnam's choice is due to several factors. The market of this country is characterized by great growth potential, low entry cost and relatively low competition in the online dating segment. In addition, the Vietnamese market is not difficult for the Russian application in terms of regulatory restrictions.
Mamba has already taken the first steps to enter the Vietnamese market. On June 20, 2024, the company applied for a trademark in Vietnam. According to a document posted in the database of the World Intellectual Property Organization, Mamba plans to provide services in the areas of business management, data transfer, entertainment and dating.
Mamba's potential investment to enter the Vietnamese market is estimated at up to $1 million. Alexander Gorny, co-founder of United Investors, suggests that the company's goal could be to take at least second place in the local market with a 15-30% share.
The founder of the analytical platform Dsight Arseny Dabbach notes the growing interest of Russian companies in the market of Southeast Asia, including Vietnam. This is due to the large population of the country (about 100 million people), friendly attitude towards Russia, as well as the growth of the middle class and an increase in the penetration of smartphones and the Internet.
Mamba is one of the oldest dating services in Russia, operating since 2003. According to the company, it has more than 1 million installations per month and 60 million questionnaires in the system. In addition to the main service, the company is developing a number of other projects in the field of online dating.[1]
2020
Investing $3 million in development in Germany and Italy
On December 15, 2020, it became known about Mamba's investments in the development of the service in Europe. The company invests a total of $3 million in scaling up its business in Italy and Germany. In these markets, Mamba's average revenue per paying user (ARPPU) exceeds 1 thousand rubles per month, which is almost twice as much as in Russia, the company told TAdviser.
| | Germany is historically the center of Russian expats in Europe. We know that Russians living in Europe like to use our application. At the same time, compared to many European products, we have a very soft monetization policy (we pay only 4-8% of the active audience), as well as modest prices. A number of local residents also "stick" to expats. In different countries, this effect is expressed in different ways, but it is in Germany that we already have a core audience, "said Mamba Executive Director Yaroslav Sergeyev. | |
According to Mamba Marketing Director Pyotr Boytsov, a fairly large Russian-speaking core of expats has formed in Italy and Germany, which actively communicate not only with each other, but also with local users. In this, Mamba sees a point of growth and intends to start with registering expats, and then switch to foreigners.
By the end of 2021, Mamba expects to enter the top 5 popular dating apps in Germany and Italy. The application has already managed to enter the top 5 in Turkey, despite the fact that the launch occurred at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
Petr Boytsov noted that the financial model for scaling to the markets of Germany and Italy has already been tested by the company in Turkey and Israel - this is, first of all, income and expense control and growth with a positive ROI.
| | In the process of growth, we will test the elasticity of demand and find the optimum, taking into account the prices of competitors and the segmentation of the audience. Ultimately, our growth is pure mathematics of unit economics, "he said. | |
Investing in the creator of the F3 social network
On November 24, 2020, SIA F3 the creator social network F3 for Generation Z announced the raising of $3.9 million in investments in the seed round from the Mamba dating service (partially owned) Mail.ru Group and the Adfirst venture fund. More. here
2005: Finam buys Mamba for $22 million
In October 2005, when the number of questionnaires in the Mamba database exceeded 4.5 million, the most popular Russia dating site was acquired for $22 million by the investment holding Finam"." [2] The revenue of the resource was then estimated at $5.7 million. It turned out that the P/S indicator (price to revenue) was 3.9. Almost all the money went to Andreev, says the founder of Finam. Victor Remsha
2007:30% of the company sold for Mail.ru $18 million
In 2007, Finam sold 30% of Mamba for $18 million, Mail.ru which was part of the Internet holding. DST Yuri Milner The rest of Mamba became the main asset (73.9%) of the Finam-IT venture capital fund, whose net assets are estimated at 3 billion. rubles
In 2009, Mamba's revenue reached 664 million rubles with EBITDA of 48%. The number of its users exceeded 12 million people.
Despite the frantic success in Russia and the efforts of the expat team, Mamba could not go to the West. Its ex-president Sherman considers the reason "the distrust of the users there for freebies." "They're used to the dating service being a closed environment where you access a database for a subscription fee," he explains. "The free registration was suspicious." Gere sees the problem in another. "Mamba" was too focused on dating, he says. "To start in Europe, you had to add components of the social network."
Creating Badoo, Andreev did just that. By this time, he had finally moved to England, settling in a townhouse near London.
Notes
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