While it's not as big as Grindr, the gay dating app Hornet took a big step forward: The company has secured an$8 million investment from Ventech China, a Shanghai-based venture capitalist firm.

“We are excited to work with our new investors to further our mission and engage our community,” says Hornet CEO Christof Wittig.

“Hornet brings interaction and an experience that builds relationships and helps form meaningful connections to local communities. We will invest heavily into making our vision for a fully connected gay community a reality."

The five-year-old app, which recently snatched up the gay city guide Vespa, is the second largest gay social network in the world, with 15 million members and 3 million monthly active users.

That's only about half of Grindr's tally, but Hornet claims its actually number one in some markets, like Taiwan, France, Brazil and Russia.

Gay hookups are big business these days: Grindr recently secured $93 million in institutional funding, also from a Chinese company—gaming giant Beijing Kunlun Tech Company, which now has a 60% stake in the company.

And Ventech also invested in Blued, a China-based dating app that claims to be twice as big as Grindr, though most members are in Asia.