Industry

Grindr could soon disappear from Wall Street’s spotlight. The LGBTQ dating app’s two largest shareholders—billionaires George Raymond Zage III and James Lu—have raised $1 billion in financing to explore taking the company private in a deal that would value it at around $3 billion. According to a recent Forbes Asia report, the proposal aims to buy back remaining shares at a minimum of $15 each.

The funding, revealed in an October 14 regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), represents a preliminary and conditional step toward a full buyout. While the filing didn’t name the lender, reports from Semafor indicate that New York–based Fortress Investment Group may be backing the deal.

“Young people aren’t disinterested—they’re priced out.” That’s George Arison’s CEO of Grindr's bold argument. In a recent interview, he pushed back against the narrative that Gen Z is losing faith in dating. Instead, he says, it’s the overly monetized business models of many apps that are driving users away.

Arison points out that some dating apps charge for virtually everything—messaging, matching, visibility—making the free versions almost unusable. He claims Grindr has intentionally kept its free product “extremely robust” so that users don’t feel compelled to pay just to participate.

How secure is your favorite dating app? According to a new study from the Business Digital Index, a staggering 75% of the 24 largest dating apps received a grade of D or F in cybersecurity—a mood-killer you didn’t swipe for.

Dating apps don’t just store your favorite selfies or witty first lines—they often hold deeply personal data: messages, orientation, even payment info. When security systems fail, the fallout can be devastating.

Have you ever stopped to think about how much we actually spend on dating apps? From boosting a profile to subscribing for unlimited swipes, the money adds up quickly. In fact, according to Busines of Apps, global dating app revenues surpassed $6 billion in 2024—with North America responsible for about 50% of that total. By 2030 this total is expected to rise to $8.7 billon.

That $6 billion milestone highlights just how deeply dating apps have become woven into modern life. Analysts note that North America alone accounted for more than $3 billion, making it the single largest driver of global app revenue. Asia-Pacific followed with steady growth, fueled by rising smartphone adoption and shifting cultural openness toward online dating. Europe trailed slightly, contributing just under 20% of total revenues.

Ever had one of those moments where you realize the only way forward is to build something better yourself? That’s the heart of Swiped, the upcoming Hulu film that follows Whitney Wolfe Herd’s journey from co-founding Tinder to creating Bumble, an app that flipped the online dating script by putting women in control.

In the film, Lily James steps into the role of Whitney, a recent college grad stepping into the high-energy, male-dominated tech world. At first, she’s part of the Tinder team—only to find herself navigating toxic workplace politics and misogyny that no one should have to endure. When those walls close in, Whitney doesn’t just walk away. She reimagines what a dating app could be and launches Bumble, building not just a company but a safer, more empowering space for women. The twist? That bold move eventually makes her the youngest female self-made billionaire.

Dating app Hinge is taking payment processing for its app into its own hands, and out of the control of the App Store.

Hinge CEO Justin McLeod was recently interviewed on the Decoder podcast and said the company would like to introduce the new payment system by the end of the year.

This is big news for dating apps, and for developers in general who have litigated to bypass the monopoly-like hold Apple and Google have on their payment platforms. To make their apps available on the iOS App Store for users to download, Hinge has had to agree to giving a percentage of every purchase made by its users to Apple.