Milestones

Actress Lily James will reportedly star in a film inspired by the life of Whitney Wolfe Herd, the legendary founder of dating app Bumble.

According to Deadline who broke the story, the film won’t be strictly based on Herd’s life, but the former CEO’s struggles and triumphs are meant to inspire the script. James will produce the film alongside 20th Century Studios and Ethea Entertainment, the production company formed by Jennifer Gibgot and Andrew Panay, according to Deadline. They are currently in pre-production for the untitled film, which is expected to be released in 2025.

Wolfe Herd got her start in the dating app business as a co-founder of Tinder, and then famously left the app in 2014 amid allegations that she was sexually harassed by her former boyfriend and Tinder co-founder. She went on to found Bumble that same year, and made it her mission to give women power on the platform, ensuring that they are the ones who can reach out first to a match.

Dating app conglomerate Match Group has attracted its second activist investor Anson Funds Management LP, who have built a stake in the company.

Bloomberg, who broke the news, also noted that shares of Match Group fell 0.9% in mid-day trading the day the news was released.

Bloomberg also reported that Anson is trying to “change the composition” of Match Group’s Board of Directors, citing reputable sources. The investment firm also discussed with Match Group’s management about embracing AI in its products, which Match Group has already been doing.

Yoel Roth, former head of Trust & Safety at Twitter, has now accepted a position as vice president of trust and safety at Match Group.

According to Tech Crunch, Roth will be responsible for developing policies and standards concerning safety across all Match Group apps.

The new VP made the announcement on his LinkedIn page: “As they say… some personal news! I swiped right on Match Group! 15 years ago, I started studying what we now call ‘trust and safety’ because the then-new world of dating apps felt like the Wild West; it’s truly a dream come true to get to roll up my sleeves and work to protect the millions of people making connections on our apps worldwide.”

OkCupid just celebrated its 20th anniversary and released some interesting dating trends as we start 2024, driven mostly by its younger users. The irreverent dating app has attracted a wide array of singles over the years, thanks to its unique question and answer format for people to get to know each other.

The dating app surveyed close to one million of its users and found that almost 80 percent consider themselves independent daters, and those who declare themselves as independent are receiving 5 percent more likes compared to people who say they aren’t.

In fact, according to the company's blog post, in 2023 there was a 181 percent increase in mentions of “independent” on OkCupid profiles, which points to healthier dating trends in 2024. Other dating apps have also found their users (especially younger Gen Z daters) want to focus on their mental health and well-being before getting involved in a new relationship, so it seems to be a trend.

Birth rates have gone down in Japan, so the local Tokyo government wants to tackle the problem with a new government-issued dating app in hopes of sparking some romance.

The big selling point for this dating app is that you won’t have to endure the high numbers of bots that come with regular dating apps, and that the platform offers a more secure online dating experience for users. The new app is backed by a government-approved vetting process, which requires users to prove their marital status and income and to take part in an online interview to confirm their identity, according to Sora News 24.

The app will be run by a private company, but the government will require official documentation from users to prove their marital status and identity, according to Nikkei Asia.

Shares of Match Group rose as much as 12 percent after The Wall Street Journal reported that Elliott Management had invested almost $1 billion in the company.

According to the report, Elliott has a long history of success in tech investments, including in Salesforce and Pinterest. The Match Group investment showed signs of promise to investors who have recently shied away from dating app companies in the wake of decreasing revenues and management turnover. As a result, share prices for Match rose as high as 12 percent and ended the day up 3 percent.

According to CNBC and The Wall Street Journal, Elliott plans to engage with Match Group’s management, but it is unclear as to how involved they will be, and if that would include nominating its directors. Match Group recently appointed a new CEO for Tinder, so Tinder’s previous acting CEO Bernard Kim can focus his attention on Match Group’s entire suite of apps, which include Hinge, OkCupid, Match and BLK.