AnastasiaDate

AnastasiaDate
Type Private
Founded 1993
Founder(s)
  • David Besuden
  • Elena Besuden
Services E-mail correspondence, video chat, live chat
Employees 250-500[1]
Slogan(s) "Love Knows No Boundaries"
Website www.anastasiadate.com
Type of site Online dating service
Registration Yes
Users 4 million[2]
Launched January 21, 1997
Current status Active

AnastasiaDate is an international online dating service website that primarily connects men from North America to women from Eastern Europe.[3][4][5] The company was founded in 1993[5] by a Russian-American couple.[6] AnastasiaDate is a privately held company and is based in Victoria, Seychelles. In March 2013, AnastasiaDate was ranked as the 29th most popular dating service website in the world.[2] The company began participating in the Gumball 3000, an international car rally, in 2014 with an electric violet AnastasiaDate Lamborghini co-driven by two Russian models who are users of the site.[7][8][9]

History

AnastasiaDate was founded in 1993 by a Russian-American couple, Elena and David Besuden. David met Elena in 1992 through an introduction service and the couple married that same year.[10] The brand AnastasiaDate was named after the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia, who was seen as role model for young Russian women.[1]

In the early nineties when the company was first established, the internet was still new, which meant catalogs were used to introduce foreign men to Russian women.[10] After using catalogs for several years, the company launched its first website in January 1997 and expanded its business in more cities throughout Russia and the Ukraine. By 2003, it was experiencing international growth.[11]

The company launched three spin-off websites during 2007, each aiming to provide western men with the ability to connect to women from different areas of the world. AmoLatina was the best known of the three new sites, which provided mainly North American men with the opportunity to meet women from Latin America.[11] During the same period, the company also launched AsianBeauties, now known as AsianDate, and AfricaBeauties.[11]

AnastasiaDate was featured in the Canadian documentary film Love Translated in 2010.[12] The documentary followed the experiences of 10 American men using AnastasiaDate to connect with Eastern European women.[13] The film, directed and edited by Julia Ivanova, premiered at the 46th annual Chicago International Film Festival and later aired on Discovery Fit & Health[14][15][16] Roger Ebert summarized the film as following young women from Ukraine, where ten men from the United States, Canada, France, and Sweden as they travel to Odessa, Ukraine, on a series of international social events, arranged by AnastasiaDate, to try to meet the right woman.[17] Variety Magazine explained that while there, the men go to several social events, including a beauty pageant at a nightclub, where they meet large numbers of single women. The interactions at the events and on the dates that the men go on are facilitated by the company's "Date a Lady" service and assisted by translators.[12]

In 2011, AnastasiaDate was sold by Anastasia International to a private investor.[1] AnastasiaDate, along with each of the three spin-off websites, became independently operated.[1]

Fortune reported that the company made $110 million in 2012, and expected to make $140 million in 2013. The site's traffic also grew by 220% in 2012.[2]

In 2013, the company launched its first mobile app on iTunes and Google Play for Apple Inc. and Android products.[18][19] In May of that year, the company filed a suit against EM Online Ltd. dba Elena's Models, in US Federal Court in New York. The complaint alleged that Elena's Models, a direct competitor of Anastasia International, set up two websites, anastasiadatefraud.com and ruadventures.com, that featured fabricated negative testimonials and illegally used AnastasiaDate trademarks. The case was dismissed.[20][21]

Operations

AnastasiaDate is one of the largest international dating services.[5] Users can register for an account on the internet or through its mobile app.[18] Notifications are sent to users when their profiles are viewed or if they match another user's search results.[22] AnastasiaDate site contains over 8,000 profiles of women from Eastern Europe to browse or search through.[22]

According to Fortune, the site is mostly used by wealthy American men between the ages of 35 and 60.[2] Registered users must purchase credits before they can converse with one another on the site..[2]

The site features various communication services such as email correspondence, live chat, video chat, and "Date a Lady" service in which the company assists in setting up a meeting between users.[23]

AnastasiaDate has been categorized in the mail order bride industry.[2] The site's anti-scam policy was criticized for its practices in a review by The Guardian.[24]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "AnastasiaDate". CrunchBase. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 "The Mail Order Bride Boom". CNN Fortune. April 9, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Breakups spike after Valentine’s Day". NY Daily News. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  4. ↑ "Did Technology Kill Traditional Dating?". Mashable. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Phelan, Amanda (September 8, 2010). "From Ukraine With Love". Irish Independent. Retrieved 2013-03-20.
  6. ↑ "About". AnastasiaDate.com. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  7. ↑ "AnastasiaDate: Too Fast, Too Sexy". Gumball 3000. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  8. ↑ Adam Baidawi (28 August 2014). "Riding shotgun in the Gumball 3000". CNN Travel. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  9. ↑ "Gumball 3000 - Meet the Lady Drivers of Team AnastasiaDate". 9 June 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "OPW Interview - AnastasiaWeb - General Director, Alexei Negin". Online Personals Watch. 15 September 2006. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 "Interview With AnastasiaDate, Lawrence Cervantes". Online Personals Watch. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Review: ‘Love Translated’". Variety. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  13. ↑ "Love Translated (2010)". IMDb. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  14. ↑ Bill Stamets. "Chicago International Film Fest puts the world on the big screen". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  15. ↑ "Discovery Fit & Health Kicks Off September with a New Season of I’m Pregnant and… Followed by Two new Specials". Discovery.com. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  16. ↑ Anderson, Kelly (12 May 2012). ""Love Translated" picked up by Discovery Fit & Health". Realscreen. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  17. ↑ "CIFF 2010: Our Capsule Reviews". Roger Ebert. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 "AnastasiaDate Launches App - Mobile Access to Dating Without Boundaries". Splash Magazines. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  19. ↑ "App Alert: AnastasiaDate Launches App for Mobile Access to Dating without Boundaries". Broadway World. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  20. ↑ "Courthouse news Wednesday, October 23, 2013". Retrieved 2013-10-29.
  21. ↑ "Court order" (PDF). Retrieved 2013-10-29.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 "Anastasiaweb.com – Reach Russian Ladies online". Killer Startups. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  23. ↑ "AnastasiaDate Reports More Demand for Key Services as Single Men Begin Romantic Planning for Spring". News 10 ABC. 9 April 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  24. ↑ Walker, Shaun. "The men who go to Ukraine looking for a wife then fly home alone and broke". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 October 2014.

External links