Dating website PlentyOfFish was acquired by Match Group (of Match.com), part of Barry Diller’s IAC/Interactive, for $575 million. Match Group plans an IPO and the acquisition of PlentyOfFish, with its more than 3 million daily users, will doubtless make the offering more attractive. There are, as the site promises, plenty of fish in the sea, but there aren’t plenty of dating sites like PlentyOfFish to scoop up. Nothing could be better to see on a dating site than what you see on a visit to PlentyOfFish: “50,000 New Singles Per Day!” screams the homepage/app.
Founder Markus Frind, 36, built the site on his own in 2003 and it was an immediate success. The Canadian company never took money from outside investors. At one point Frind’s company was clearing $10 million a year while Frind worked just ten hours a week. And PlentyOfFish hasn’t just made money — it’s made a lot of people happy.