Bumble Acquires Official to Help Couples Improve Relationships

Bumble is expanding its suite of apps with the acquisition of Official, an app that helps people improve their relationships through check-ins and date planning, according to Fast Company.

Networking and friendship building are already part of Bumble’s platform, and Official adds to the mix to encourage couples to better communicate and set intentions in their relationships.

Official will remain a standalone app for now instead of being folded into Bumble’s app, though CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd told Fast Company that there were opportunities for the two platforms to “collaborate.” Couples who met on another app will also be able to sign up for Official, which means joining Bumble’s userbase. With the addition of Official, Bumble is seizing on an opportunity to keep people on its platforms even after they’ve met and formed a relationship.

“We’re really trying to build the entire relationship journey and take care of the entire relationship from start to finish,” Herd said in an interview with Fast Company.

In addition to its acquisition, Bumble announced its new “Top Artists” feature, capitalizing on its integration with Spotify which allows users to link their Spotify accounts to their profiles. The new feature pulls artists from the Bumble user’s Spotify top 50 and displays the top 10 artists on their profile. Music has been a popular way for people to connect over dating apps, and this is another way for users to see immediately what they have in common.

There’s reason to include a Spotify handle on your profile, too: according to Bumble’s own research, most U.S. users have linked their profiles to Spotify because they are more likely to receive a right swipe. Also, Gen Z users have adopted this faster than older generations, a key demographic for dating app companies.

Bumble is also looking into AI features to attract more users to its platform. Herd told Fast Company that the goal is to improve matching and efficiency with AI so users would spend less time searching on apps.

“We want to get you in real life with safe, compatible people as quickly as possible, and AI will be a huge way to do that,” Herd says.

Bumble’s stock has decreased in value since the company went public, but it’s not alone. Other dating app companies like Match Group have struggled with declining revenue for the first time and are looking for ways to monetize. However, analysts are still positive about the growth of the industry growing forward despite current economic setbacks like inflation impacting consumer spending on these apps.

Bumble did not disclose the terms of the deal. For more on this dating service, check out our Bumble app review.