Founded in December 2006, WooMe combines online dating with video chat - the founders are convinced that the combination of the two is a winner for the more light-hearted side of the dating scene.
WooMe employs 20 staff at offices in London and in San Francisco, and is backed by Skype founder Niklas Zennström, among others.
Chief executive Stephen Stokols explains his big ambitions for the site.
WooMe's co-founders Stephen Stokols, George Berkowski and Steven Sesar
• Explain your business to my Mum.
WooMe is a live introductions platform that leverages a speed-dating model to let users meet each other in a fun, fast and effective fashion via voice and video. Meet five people in five minutes and decide who woo'd you.
• How do you make money?
If two people mutually woo each other, they pay $1 to get their contact info.
• How many users do you have now, and what's your target within 12 months?
Target in 12 months = 1m users. Existing registered user numbers are in six figures.
• What's your biggest challenge?
The technology keeping up with the user growth. we've grown faster than expected and constantly struggled to keep site performing.
• Name your competitors.
No direct competition. We are a first mover in the space, but companies like Stickam and MySpace (which is also a place to meet people) may be potential competitors down the line.
• Are we in the middle of a new dot com bubble?
Yes. There has been a period of over investment the past few years which has lead to another period of over-inflated valuations and too many companies with no chance of success securing funds. Despite public .com companies such as Google trading at over-inflated values, most of the .com investment this round has been born by corporations and venture capital firm versus individuals in public markets.
• If you had £10m to invest in another web business, what would you invest in?
Something that does not require advertising dollars to make money.
• Where do you want the company to be in five years?
A big thing - a worldly recognised destination for meeting new people live for all purposes from finding a travel partner to finding a boyfriend to finding a job.
• Are you the next big thing?
Yes. We have the early signs to indicate we are in the race.
Is this compelling? Do you think video dating online could really take off? And has it woo'd you?
