We, Shahzad Younas, set up muzmatch as a website over decade before (2011) as an area job whilst I was nonetheless functioning at Morgan Stanley to help my neighborhood. Mainstream treatments just failed to serve the requirements of Muslims after a life lover perhaps not casual matchmaking.
2011 – The muzmatch webpages ended up being pretty revolutionary at the time. No monthly costs, and had been completely PAYG – spend 50p to look at photos, A?1 to talk to a person. Established selection were terrible.
We spreading your message by any means feasible, standing outside mosques after prayers offering leaflets and putting small notes on auto windshields in Muslim segments, together with merely being usually annoying
This site increased, with plenty deploying it, as well as several , smart phones comprise removing and I also realised APPS comprise the future, perhaps not sites. muzmatch must be an app. It simply must be!
We stop my personal 9 12 months expense banking job and grabbed the leap. From the bedroom of my personal home, we read how to build programs.
We designed the very first form of the muzmatch application in MS keyword, and learned just how to signal, having 4 months to create the apple’s ios software, and four weeks to create the Android application. closed the outdated website straight down and established the application! muzmatch got reborn!
muzmatch ended up being and it is the actual only real application I have ever before constructed. This is the first global Muslim relationship app to exist.
The app established with zero customers, and increases naturally, with hundreds of newer members signing up for globally. 2016 – I generate my personal first hire.
We applied to Y Combinator, and travelled out to SF for interviews with Paul Buchheit (inventor of Gmail). Unfortunately we were declined given we were pre revenue. YC need united states to show this is often an actual business.
Our company is a little startup combat to guard our selves from the prominent online dating providers on earth
2016 – we sign-up trademarks for MUZMATCH in the US and European countries. you enrollment goes through and it is nonetheless appropriate today.
Fit people solicitors identify the European TM subscription and register an objection to they stating it’s moving off their own match/match heart concept TM (merely registered in 2015!)
2016 specific lawyers send us letters demanding us to cease use of the MUZMATCH brand, claiming they’d not allow another dating company to truly have the English word match within their name.
Surprisingly they presumably attempted to get Bumble two times, and when denied both hours, sued Bumble for the very same patent violation states over their usage of swipe motions inside app
We decline. They even demanded we alter the find and form of the logo design alone. We really do not and would not desire to be mistaken for fit party – they affects our very own companies to be associated with them.
We changes our brand name, and take away one’s heart logo and alter the font utilized in the muzmatch logo design. Circumstances get quiet. Match team always submit objections to your EU Trademark.
2017 – muzmatch grows like crazy. We reapplied to Y Combinator (with earnings and big development) and thankfully after traveling out over SF, muzmatch is accepted to your summertime 17 group!
We raised a $1.75M seed round post demonstration day. 2017 – Whilst I was in SF in YC, United States complement team CEO Mandy Ginsberg keen to learn more about united states, so kluczowym ogniwem we have a video telephone call together.
– complement cluster contact you saying these people were thinking about getting to know you more and learn more about our company. We were flattered. Constantly good to analyze the competition. Their EU CEO/CFO/Biz Dev come to our offices in London.
We enhance the continuing TM arguments they’ve been processing. They will not back off. We register a UK trademark enrollment for MUZMATCH.
2018 – complement team ask all of us for their practices in Paris, and in addition we signal an NDA and discuss some internal facts. I happened to be eager to educate yourself on the way they discover our very own business and prospective. After some back and forth on facts, they make their own basic offer for all of us – $15M. A little more than our seed valuation at YC. A lowball offer in my sight.
A couple of months afterwards they upped this give with regards to many further terminology. We said no many thanks.
– they generate another larger give of $25M with a few additional clawback conditions when we failed to struck some objectives. We said no many thanks. We continue expanding the group and biz, with a group of approximately 7 men and women.
– We hit one million members on muzmatch! Business raising better. Match party invite you for lunch from the Ivy, with class CFO Gary Swidler. They provide us $35M for all the companies.
I experienced pretty much shed all interest in this talk plus the provide ended up being thoroughly unexciting. Did not find out how Match would allow us to with developing. muzmatch was actually just starting to take control the whole world. I rejected their own provide and mentioned let’s merely stay in touch.
2019 – complement team after that pick a Muslim opponent, Harmonica, expressing your Muslim markets was ‘not correctly supported by Western goods’.
A couple of months after they sue muzmatch in the UK IPEC process of law alleging trademark infringement We respond back, stating our very own brand is a redline we will safeguard for the end. It has existed for more than ten years, with no distress with Match people, and serves an industry that they have never sought to serve until now.
– complement team up the ante and lodge case against muzmatch in Waco, Tx alleging patent violation (use of swipe motion) and cyberpiracy (use of one’s MUZMATCH brand).
– it is extremely costly litigating in america. We made the commercial choice to be in all of our people circumstances with Match Group.
We opt to remove the swipe motion from muzmatch application also. Produced zero impact on the item. Swiping really is dead.
– We strike 5 million people internationally, splitting internal data weekly – record communications, suits and positive results (over 150,000 folks locating their particular mate on muzmatch!). Teams increases to around 60 men and women and checking. Application inhabit 15 languages.
All of our British suit vs complement cluster is still live, therefore check-out trial 17th/18th Jan at UK IPEC.
When we get rid of? We are compelled to changes all of our brand name, and label muzmatch will die. We’ll likely have to pay product damages.
We combat, because we ought to. It is crucial that merchandise designed for all of our community are made BY our very own community, hence we do not let our selves as dictated and controlled by rest.
We require prayers, duas and great desires from our neighborhood, all of our clientele and all of anyone who has gained from muzmatch and found their own mate.