What Momo does

Momo, legally operating as Hello Group Inc. and listed on NASDAQ under ticker MOMO, is a Beijing-headquartered mobile social platform founded in 2011 that pioneered location-based discovery for meeting nearby people. The company's flagship product, the Momo (陌陌) app, enables users to connect through video, text, voice, and image exchange based on geographical proximity, and is augmented by features including LBS-based nearby discovery, live streaming with virtual gift monetization, short video ("时刻"), audio rooms, and an AI-powered intelligent services suite built on a proprietary generative model registered as Beijing-MoMoSheJiaoDuiHua (filed October 2025). The product portfolio is anchored by the Momo app, supplemented by wholly-owned subsidiary Tantan (探探), a dating-focused app acquired in 2018, and Momo Live, Momo Games, e-commerce live streaming, and a Live Academy for streamers. The 2021 rebrand from Momo Inc. to Hello Group Inc. signaled intent to evolve from a single-app brand to a multi-product social platform, with 501-1,000 employees and operations spanning China plus overseas markets including the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, and Singapore.

Momo monetizes through a diversified stack of virtual goods, subscriptions, advertising, and games. The largest revenue stream is value-added services (25.331B CNY out of 25.758B CNY in Q4 2025 revenue) derived from VIP (12 yuan/month) and SVIP (30 yuan/month, 44+ privileges) subscriptions and MOMO coin purchases used for virtual gifts. Live streaming historically was the dominant revenue stream but has been declining. Additional revenue comes from in-feed mobile marketing, casual games (including Momo Bear Bear Elimination), and live-streamer-driven e-commerce integrations with Youzan, Taobao, and Pinduoduo. The company operates a guild system for recruiting and managing streamers, plus a Live Academy (zbxy.immomo.com) for content creator training.

The company's primary customer segments are urban general consumers seeking social connections, content creators and streamers monetizing through virtual gifts, and premium members (VIP/SVIP) seeking enhanced matching and ad-free experience. Distribution is product-led via mobile app stores (iOS and Android) plus web access at web.immomo.com. FY2025 net revenue totaled 10.367 billion CNY (~$1.48B) with overseas revenue of 2.0 billion CNY growing 70.8% YoY, non-GAAP net profit of 993.5M CNY (~$142M), and a cash position of 8.678 billion CNY (~$1.24B) as of December 31, 2025. Leadership is led by founder/chairman/CEO Tang Yan, with Wang Li as Executive Director/President, Zhang Sichuan as Director/COO, Peng Hui as CFO (since June 30, 2022), and Wen Jianhua as CTO.

Name

Momo

Legal name

Beijing Momo Technology Co., Ltd. (北京陌陌科技集团有限公司)

Website

https://immomo.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Momo (Hello Group Inc., NASDAQ: MOMO) operates a location-based mobile social platform founded in 2011, serving hundreds of millions of users with live streaming, virtual gifting, and VIP subscriptions, alongside dating app Tantan and overseas expansion including the Happn acquisition.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Beijing

HQ country

China

HQ region

Asia

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Live Streaming Services (直播服务): Revenue from live streaming where users purchase gifts for streamers and the company takes a share of virtual gift revenue. Streamers and guilds receive revenue splits. Key revenue driver historically, though declining in recent quarters.
2. Value-added Services (增值服务): Revenue from virtual gift services and membership subscription services (VIP and SVIP memberships). Includes revenue from independent new apps. In Q4 2025, this became the primary revenue stream at 25.331 billion yuan out of 25.758 billion total quarterly revenue.
3. Virtual Currency (陌陌币): Platform virtual currency used to purchase virtual gifts, membership subscriptions, and other in-app services. Users purchase MOMO coins through various payment channels.
4. Mobile Marketing (移动营销): Advertising revenue from the platform including in-feed ads and promotional placements. Relatively small portion of total revenue.
5. Mobile Games (移动游戏): Revenue from self-developed and co-branded games including '陌陌熊熊消' and other休闲类 games. Includes game guild partnerships.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Momo is a location-based mobile social networking platform that enables users to discover and connect with nearby people through video, text, voice, and image communication. The platform monetizes primarily through live streaming virtual gifts, VIP/SVIP subscription memberships, virtual currency (MOMO coins) purchases, and mobile advertising, supplemented by mobile games and an acquired dating app (Tantan).

Product overview

Momo (Hello Group Inc., NASDAQ: MOMO) operates a multi-product social entertainment platform with MOMO陌陌 as its flagship product, supplemented by acquired dating app 探探 (Tan Tan). The platform architecture includes core social features (nearby user discovery, instant messaging, video/live streaming), virtual currency system (MOMO Coins), subscription services (VIP/SVIP membership tiers), and gaming integration. Additional services include e-commerce live streaming, guild management systems for streamers, live streaming academy, and short video sharing. The company expanded internationally and launched new products through acquisitions. The overall offering is a comprehensive social ecosystem connecting users through video, text, voice, and location-based services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• 探探 (Tan Tan): A dating app acquired in 2018, operating as a separate brand under Hello Group Inc.

Products and services

• MOMO (陌陌) Core flagship product of Hello Group Inc.: a location-based mobile social platform that enables users to discover nearby people and build social relationships through video, text, voice, and image communication. Includes features such as nearby people discovery, live streaming, short video sharing, groups, and AI-powered matching.
• Tantan (探探) Dating app acquired by Momo that provides swipe-based matching services for users seeking romantic relationships. Operates as a separate brand under Hello Group Inc., with approximately 12 million monthly active users as of Q3 2024.
• MOMO VIP Membership (VIP/SVIP)

Quantifiable outcome

• Consistently profitable for over 31 consecutive quarters through 2023
• +1 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

AI capability12 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• TantancoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2018Momo completed 100% acquisition of Tantan (探探) in May 2018, making it a wholly-owned subsidiary. Tantan operates as a separate dating app targeting users seeking romantic relationships, complementing Momo's broader social networking focus.
• Hello Group Inc.coreOthersMomo is operated by 挚文集团 (Hello Group Inc.), a Nasdaq-listed company (MOMO). Hello Group rebranded from Momo Inc. to Hello Group Inc. in August 2021. The group encompasses Momo app, Tantan, and other mobile applications.
• Hello Group Japan株式会社minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJapanese subsidiary responsible for game development and publishing in Japan market. Located in Shibuya, Tokyo. Currently developing female-oriented romance games for the Japanese market.
• Beijing Momo Technology Co., Ltd.coreOthersThe developer entity listed on Apple App Store, registered as Beijing Momo Technology Co., Ltd. (北京陌陌科技有限公司), a subsidiary of Hello Group Inc.
• 天津合尔科技有限公司minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWholly-owned subsidiary of Momo that provides live streaming services, as disclosed in the user agreement.
• 中国乡村发展基金会minorOthersPartnership for rural public welfare projects including village bridges, drinking water engineering, and village clinics. Momo has donated over 80 million yuan cumulatively through various CSR initiatives.
• 中国青少年发展基金会minorOthersPartnership for building Hope Primary Schools (挚文希望小学) in impoverished areas. Momo has funded 22 schools total with 19 unveiled in November 2021, with over 20 million yuan invested in rural education.
• 中国社会福利基金会芒果V基金minorOthersPartnership for the Love Drinking Water Project (爱心饮水工程) in Hunan Province, with 14 million yuan定向 donated for water infrastructure in 42 villages covering over 30,000 residents.
• 中国青基会-陌陌公益基金minorOthersPublic welfare foundation established in September 2018 for poverty alleviation and rural development initiatives.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Soulgate (Soul): Soul is a Chinese social networking app focused on interest-based matching and stranger chat, serving the same young, urban Chinese user base as Momo. Its anonymous and avatar-driven social model directly competes with Momo's LBS-based open social networking offering.
• Match Group (Tinder): Match Group operates Tinder, the global leader in swipe-based dating, sharing Tantan's exact product mechanics and target user intent. It is the closest direct public peer for Momo's Tantan business and a benchmark for dating-app unit economics.
• Bumble Inc. Bumble operates female-first dating and broader social apps (Bumble, Badoo) that overlap with Tantan's dating use case. Comparable in monetization mix (subscription + virtual goods) and focus on romantic connection, making it a direct public peer for Momo's dating segment.
• JOYY Inc. JOYY is a Chinese live-streaming and short-video operator (YY Live, Bigo Live) with virtual gifting as a primary monetization layer, mirroring Momo's historic revenue mix. Both serve similar creator economies with guild-based live-streaming models.
• Huya Inc. Huya is a leading Chinese live-streaming platform for entertainment and gaming, with virtual-gift-driven revenue and guild-managed streamers — the same architecture as Momo Live. It serves as a primary benchmark for live-streaming monetization and regulatory exposure in China.
• Kuaishou Technology: Kuaishou operates a leading Chinese short-video and live-streaming platform with virtual gifting, advertising, and e-commerce live-streaming — overlapping significantly with Momo's feature set. It is a direct comparator on short video, live streaming, and e-commerce monetization.

Broad incumbents

• ByteDance (Douyin/TikTok): ByteDance operates Douyin (China) and TikTok (global), the dominant short-video and live-streaming platforms that compete for the same creator and live-streaming attention that Momo monetizes. Although much larger and broader, ByteDance is the principal incumbent defining Momo's competitive market.
• Tencent (WeChat/QQ): Tencent's WeChat is China's super-app social network, anchoring messaging, social discovery, mini-program live streaming, and payments. It does not specialize in Momo's stranger/LBS niche but overlaps on social discovery and mini-program live-streaming content.

Emerging players

• Meitu, Inc. Meitu operates photo/beauty-focused social and imaging apps (including Meipai short video) targeted at female users in China. It overlaps partially with Momo on short-video social and image-based social features but targets a narrower, beauty-focused audience.

Others

• Snap Inc. Snap (Snapchat) operates a camera-first social and messaging platform with AR lenses, Stories, and a creator monetization layer (Spotlight, gifts). While not in the same geography, it is thematically comparable as a mobile-first social platform monetizing through ads and AR/in-app commerce.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/momolbs
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hello-group-inc
• Facebookfacebook.com/about

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds9 records

Investors12 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments3 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Momo