Contributed by: kellyseal on Wednesday, September 16 2020 @ 11:03 am
Last modified on Wednesday, September 16 2020 @ 11:10 am
Popular feminist dating app Bumble is preparing for an initial public offering early next year, and is reportedly talking with banks about the plan.
The timing is still tenuous, but it was reported by Bloomberg News[*1] that the company’s valuation could be between $6 billion to $8 billion dollars. Bloomberg also noted that private equity firm Blackstone Group bought a majority stake in Bumble last year, when it was known as MagicLab. Blackstone valued the company then at $3 billion.
MacigLab was recently rebranded as Bumble by its new CEO and Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd, who took over after Andrey Andreev resigned. Herd has made some changes including significant rebranding and folding in gay dating app Chappy to its signature Bumble dating app. Popular dating app Badoo, also founded by Andreev, is part of the Bumble suite of apps.
Bumble has become the second most popular dating app in the U.S. after Tinder, and has grown to over 100 million users. Like many dating apps, Bumble saw a surge of activity and new subscribers during the coronavirus lockdowns as people took to dating apps to connect. And when dating apps began launching new video chat features, Bumble had already debuted its video chat feature late last year, and noticed an increase in activity on its platform.
The timing and valuation of the IPO have not been confirmed, as the company is in initial planning stages, but Bloomberg reports that it could take place in early 2021.
Forbes points out that the dating app market continues to surge. Match Group, which has a market capitalization of $30 billion and a suite of apps that include Tinder, Match, Plenty of Fish and OkCupid, has reportedly approached The Meet Group, another competitor in the dating app space in a possible takeover bid. This was first reported by Bloomberg in February. Facebook also launched a dating app, hoping to capitalize on the market, but so far has fallen short of expectations.
Wolfe Herd has been front and center in putting Bumble on the map and growing its mission to empower women not only in dating, but also in career networking and making friends.
"I feel like what I'm doing is quite important," Wolfe Herd said in 2018 in an interview with The Times of London. "A lot of people are, like, 'What do you mean it's important? It's a dating app.' But it's important because connections are at the root everything we do. Human connection defines our happiness and our health. This company feels like a piece of me."