Growing up homosexual in a small city in southern China, “J.L.” used to feel alone in the world. There were no gay bars in his hometown, Sanming, in a mountainous region in Fujian Province. Nor would anyone in his social circle discuss such a topic. Only in 2012, when J.L. came across a smartphone application called Blued, did he realize that there were others — millions — like him.

Then a middle schooler, he was surfing online when his eye caught an app offering gay dating. “I was so surprised,” J.L. recalled of his first encounter with Blued. He downloaded it and straightaway found another user 100 meters away.

“All of a sudden, I realized that I was not alone,” J.L. said. “That was a marvelous feeling.”

J.L., now 22, still logs onto Blued once a week. And he is one of many doing so. With 6.4 million monthly active users, Blued is by far the most popular gay dating app in China.

Out of this Blued’s founder, Ma Baoli, has built a business that runs from livestreaming to health care and family planning — and has made it all the way to the US stock market. In July, Blued’s parent company, Beijing-based BlueCity Holdings, raised USD 84.8 million from its initial public offering on Nasdaq.

When Ma — dressed in a blue suit with a rainbow boutonniere — rang the bell at the IPO ceremony, BlueCity showed that a gay-focused business can survive and thrive in a country where homosexuality has long been taboo. Read more via KrAsia