Contributed by: kellyseal on Friday, March 17 2023 @ 10:26 am
Last modified on Friday, March 17 2023 @ 10:41 am
Dating app Grindr closes out 2022 on a high note, reporting a 34 percent increase in year-over-year earnings to $195 million, showing a positive outlook for the coming year to investors since the app went public.
According to Fast Company, monthly average users rose to about 12 million, up from 11 million at the same time last year. Paying users also grew from 703,000 to 873,000 over the last year.
This was the company’s first earnings report as a public company, and with the impressive numbers, shares more than doubled throughout the trading day, according to Fast Company[*1] . The article was quick to point out that the dating app industry in general is still volatile despite earnings, as shown by Bumble’s fluctuating share price and secondary stock offering, as well as the recent Match Group dip. Since Grindr’s report came out, the company’s stock has gone down.
“The market in general has been very weird, right?” CEO George Arison told Fast Company. He was named to the top position in October. “My focus has been on ensuring that we execute really well and build credibility with our investors, new investors and the Street broadly.”
Grindr has reason to be positive with that kind of revenue growth, focusing its branding efforts on becoming a more all-purpose LGBTQ+ dating app. The company expects revenue to grow 25 percent in 2023, in large part due to its plan to roll out new premium features, which have been a money-maker for dating apps. Instead of committing to a subscription, many opt to pay for features as they go.
According to Fast Company, Grindr is hoping to capture more paying users by offering new subscription tiers. They have also created a new testing system to experiment and gain insight on which new features to invest in, depending on user interest.
Arison also hinted at a large product announcement later this year, according to Fast Company.
Grindr has run into safety and security issues in the past and needs to overcome some hurdles when it comes to perceptions of the app for potential investors. There have been security breaches of user data, and safety is still a concern for many users of the app, since some perpetrators have used the app to target LGBTQ+ daters in hate crimes. Arison says that Grindr is addressing these issues.
“Some negatives are going to take time to solve,” Arison told Fast Company.
Recently, Grindr debuted Play Safe, a video series intended to educate dating app users about its safety policies and practices, including how to block and report bad actors on the app. Grindr also created a team of moderators trained in LGBTQ-specific cultural sensitivities and review reports around the clock.
As of 2023 Grindr has been expanding and now has about 200 total employees. For more on this gay dating app, you can read our Grindr review.