Dating app Bumble is looking to make its stock market debut in February, likely in time for Valentine’s Day, according to a report from Bloomberg who broke the news.

The female-forward dating app was rumored to be planning its IPO for 2021, but there was no date or even timeframe specified. The company is backed by investment firm Blackstone Group, and according to Bloomberg, has already confidentially filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to go public. In 2019, Blackstone acquired a majority stake in what was known as MagicLab, now rebranded as Bumble, which owns the Bumble apps and Badoo among other dating apps. At the time of the purchase, MagicLab was valued at about $3 billion.

The Lox Club officially launched this fall, but the buzz about it has been growing since the beginning of the year, with comparisons to exclusive dating app Raya.

The new members-only app accepts applications from users to join, and there’s currently thousands of people on the waiting list over the course of a couple of months, according to Jewish Insider. The company’s target market is Jewish singles looking for a different, more curated experience from a mainstream app like Tinder, but you can join even if you’re not Jewish. The tagline says the app is: “for Jews with ridiculously high standards.”

The app is similar to Raya in that you can’t just sign up, you have to be accepted. However, unlike Raya, acceptance to the club isn’t dependent on how many Instagram followers you have, (though users are required to link to their Instagram page when they join), or what you do for a living, but something more intangible - what kind of values you hold.

Recipient
MillionaireMatch

The 2021 recipient of the Editor's Top Pick - Wealthy award goes to the dating service MillionaireMatch. This dating service has been in business for 20 years now and has welcomed more than 4.7 million members including attractive singles and wealthy members from not only the United States, but Canada and the United Kingdom as well. MillionaireMatch was one of the first dating services to offer verified profiles. Members can have their photo verified as authentic along with their income.

Image: Tinder

Dating app Tinder released its annual report The Year in Swipe, and found that while the pandemic dominated the year, dating apps benefitted with an increase in subscriptions and user activity. 

While many singles were stuck at home they chose to connect virtually, with messages and swipes up by double digits compared to back in February, according to Inside Hook.

“Travel” was the most-used term this year, especially around March and April when the first lockdowns began and people had to cancel their plans. Also popular in 2020 were pandemic-related ice breakers, with many using the phrase “quarantine and chill” and discussing mask wearing habits and protocols with their matches.

Recipient
OurTime

The Editor's Top Pick - Senior Award recipient is OurTime. This dating service matches singles 50 and older together and is run by People Media (which is owned by Match Group) who have been in the dating business for almost 20 years. It is one of the larger seniors oriented dating service in North America and is popular in the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe as well.

The OurTime service can be accessed from their website and dating apps (for Google Android and Apple's iOS). Which ever device you use to access the service, you will find that OurTime makes it easy for those new to online dating to quickly get searching and finding other members that spark their interest, and get them to reach out to communicate with. OurTime doesn't reinvent dating but keeps it simple to use while still having all the features one would expect of a dating service.

Dating app Hinge has rolled out some impressive new features to help users connect with matches who spark their interest, and to help them engage in conversation.

According to Adweek, the app is offering new visuals that don’t resemble a traditional dating app, intended to capture the attention of its users – specifically, hand-drawn illustrations of people, dogs and plants in a color palette of purple, green and red. These illustrated characters will also offer users prompts and tips for starting conversations. Hinge intends to create more warmth and fun to the dating app experience, which they feel will help users connect.