Grindr Appoints New CEO and Other Execs Before Launching its IPO

Grindr CEO George Arison

Dating app Grindr, which serves the LGBTQ+ community, named board member George Arison as its new CEO. He is scheduled to launch the company’s IPO this fall with a $2.1 billion valuation.

Arison is scheduled to take the reins on October 19th. He has long worked in the tech industry and been a board member of the company since May, according to NBC News. Prior to his appointment as CEO, he founded the car reseller app Shift Technologies, where he also served as CEO, and before that he headed a taxi-hailing app.

In addition to hiring a new CEO, Grindr also appointed a new CFO, the former CFO of Disney Streaming Service Vanna Krantz, who launched and grew the highly successful Disney+ product. Grindr’s outgoing CEO Jeff Bonforte and CFO Gary Hsueh will move into advisory roles going forward, according to NBC News.

Grindr is one of the most popular gay dating apps, with about 11 million monthly users according to stats from 2021. Arison said in a press release about leading the company during this time of transition: “Their hard work and a laser focus on delivering great products to a starkly underserved market are inspiring, and deliver incredibly strong business results.”

Grindr’s history has not been without controversy. The company has had a tumultuous path in terms of ownership and leadership, with Chinese company Beijing Kunlun Tech buying the app for $93 million in 2016. Employees reported that the new executives who took over would communicate in Mandarin over WhatsApp and other non-official platforms, excluding the American-based English-speaking team. There were also concerns that the Chinese government could access the personal information of Grindr users for blackmail purposes, including data like location and HIV status of military and government personnel using the app, causing the US oversight agency to get involved and force Kunlun to sell a few years later.

In 2018, Buzzfeed found that Grindr had been sharing its users’ HIV status and location data with vendors, and the company said it agreed to put a stop to the practice.

Grindr has also faced accusations that its platform poses a risk for sexually exploiting minors, and fuels “sexual racism,” according to a report from NPR. The company has since updated its Help Center, community guidelines and safety tips, and integrated new AI algorithms to flag and prevent potential exploitation taking place over the app, according to NBC News.

Arison is excited to take the helm and lead Grindr into a new era, noting in the press release: “Grindr’s mission to connect the LGBTQ community with one another and the world is a powerful driver of success, and provides a framework by which we can continue to grow by leaps and bounds in the years to come. Our community is deserving of amazing business services, and we intend to meet and exceed their expectations.”

For more on this dating app you can read our Grindr review.