Bumble plans to go public in 2021

by



[ad_1]

The women-focused dating app is planning an initial public offering as early as the first quarter of 2021, according to a Bloomberg report citing people with knowledge of the matter. The report says Bumble is working with Goldman Sachs (GS) and Citigroup (VS) on the list provided, and is also advised by Morgan stanley (SP).

Bumble – which forces women looking for heterosexual matches to take the first step – was founded in 2014 by Whitney Wolfe Herd. The company has since grown into a household name and offers services beyond dating, including work and social media. The company also has other apps like Badoo, a popular digital dating service outside of the United States.

Investment firm black stone (BX) bought a controlling stake in Bumble, then known as MagicLab, a year ago in a deal that valued the company at $ 3 billion. Bloomberg says Bumble could ask for a stock market valuation of $ 6 billion to $ 8 billion.

Representatives for Bumble, Blackstone, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley declined to comment on CNN Business.

Bumble exists in a crowded marketplace of competing dating apps, including Tinder, Hinge, Match, and OKCupid (all owned by IAC’s Match group (MTCH)).
She sued Tinder, founded Bumble, and now, at 30, is the CEO of a $ 3 billion dating empire
Dating apps have been boosted by the coronavirus, despite people staying at home more often. Bumble reported a 26% increase in messages in the first few months of the pandemic.

Bumble, vice president of strategy, Priti Joshi, told CNN in May that the average call time on the app was around 28 minutes, which “means they actually get to know the person from the other side of that call. ”

Under Wolfe Herd’s leadership, the company also continues to expand internationally and plans to invest more in Asia, Central America and Europe.
In 2018, Bumble was launched in India, a risky move given that casual dating is a relatively new phenomenon and India has one of the highest rates of sexual violence in the world.

“The most traditional and misogynistic mindsets in the world – these markets for us are completely open grasslands,” Wolfe Herd told CNN Business last year, referring to the decision to go into India. “Just because something isn’t as progressive as some other place in the world doesn’t mean there’s no desire for it.”

As of September of last year, Bumble had 66 million users and was profitable, the company told CNN Business. The basic version of the app is free, but users can purchase additional filters.

[ad_2]

Source link