The pair formed a partnership: Andreev received 79% ownership in the company for an initial investment of $10 million, along with additional investments; Wolfe Herd served as founder, CEO, and 20% owner. As part of the agreement, the new company would also utilize Badoo's infrastructure and Andreev's consulting.
Wolfe Herd said the partnership was key due to Andreev's "knowledge and infrastructure".
After the partnership was established, the pair recruited fellow Tinder departees Chris Gulczynski and Sarah Mick to design the interface and help launch Bumble.
Bumble was launched three months later in December 2014. Infrastructure in Badoo's London headquarters was used for Bumble.
[*
* ]
The company was valued at more than $1 billion in November 2017.
When private equity firm
Blackstone Inc.
Blackstone Inc. is an American alternative investment management company based in New York City. It was founded in 1985 as a mergers and acquisitions firm by Peter Peterson and Stephen Schwarzman, who had previously worked together at Lehman ...
purchased a majority stake in Bumble's parent company MagicLab, Bumble and its sister apps were valued at $3 billion.
[Ruth Reader]
Dating app Bumble and its sister apps are now worth $3 billion
, ''Fast Company'' (November 8, 2019). Bumble and its sister apps earned $162 million in net revenue in 2018.
In 2020, MagicLab was renamed Bumble Inc. as the parent company of both Bumble and Badoo.
As of 2020, Bumble had been downloaded over 100 million times.
The company headquarters are in
Austin, Texas
Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...
, and, as of 2021, had 650 employees globally.
In February 2021, Bumble raised $2.2 billion through its
IPO
An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...
and the company had a valuation of over $7 billion. Bumble was listed on the
Nasdaq
The Nasdaq Stock Market (; National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the U.S. by volume, and ranked second on the list ...
exchange, with shares initially valued at $43 but increasing to $76 on its opening day, valuing the company at more than $13 billion. By November 2021, the company's shares had fallen by 20% after a quarterly earnings report which posited a decline in user growth, and users prepared to pay for its premium features.
In February 2022, Bumble announced it had acquired Fruitz, a
French-owned freemium dating app popular with
Gen Z
Generation Z (often shortened to Gen Z), also known as zoomers, is the demographic cohort succeeding Millennials and preceding Generation Alpha. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1990s as starting birth years and the early 20 ...
and used across Europe. This was the company's first acquisition.
Starting in April 2022, Bumble users who report abuse are eligible for a collection of free courses from Bloom, an online provider of support for assault survivors.
By November 2023, its fourth-quarter earnings showed that inflation and growing competition with Tinder had reduced user spending on its app's paid features. The news coincided with its founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd stepping down and
Slack's chief executive
Lidiane Jones replacing her.
In February 2024, Bumble announced plans of laying off 350 employees as part of a restructuring plan, which constitutes 30% of Bumble's workforce.
Bumble acquired the friend-finding group chat app Geneva in June 2024.
In January 2025, founder
Whitney Wolfe Herd
Whitney Wolfe Herd (born July 1, 1989) is an American entrepreneur.
She is the founder, executive chair, and former CEO of publicly traded Bumble, an online dating platform, launched in 2014. She is a co-founder of Tinder and was previously its ...
announced that she would be returning as Bumble's CEO in March.
Operation
Matching users
Users swipe right to "like" a potential match and left to reject them. In matches between a man and a woman, the woman must initiate the conversation with their match or the matches disappear within 24 hours; either person in a same-sex match can reach out.
This process changed in 2024 when Bumble launched Opening Moves; the feature allows female users to add prompts to their profiles for men to respond to. For same-sex and nonbinary users, either person can use these prompts.
The app has features allowing the user to have favorite conversations, sort conversations, make calls, and send photo messages.
In March 2016, Bumble released BFF mode as a way for users to find
platonic friends. After switching into the mode, the app replaces potential dates with people of the user's same sex who are also looking for friends. BFF mode uses the same swipe right or left platform as the app's dating mode and requires that a conversation is started within 24 hours of matching with a potential friend. Conversations started with potential friends are color-coded as green as opposed to yellow for dates. As the feature was rolled out, Bumble also announced that it would eventually release a dual-profile feature allowing users to curate a profile for dating or friendship.
In April 2016, the Bumble app was updated to combat
ghosting. As part of the update, if a user is messaged after matching with a potential partner and does not respond within 24 hours, the match disappears. Before the update, men were allowed unlimited time to respond to a message from women. An update was also launched for same-sex matches, with either party allowed to initiate and the other having to respond within 24 hours.
In 2020, the app introduced a wider range of gender identity options for users to identify as
genderqueer
Non-binary or genderqueer gender identities are those that are outside the male/female gender binary. Non-binary identities often fall under the transgender umbrella since non-binary people typically identify with a gender that is differ ...
or
transgender
A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth.
The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...
, following an article by ''
The Daily Dot
''The Daily Dot'' is a digital media company covering the culture of the Internet and the World Wide Web. It was founded by Nicholas White in 2011, and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.
The site, conceived as the Internet's "hometown newsp ...
''.
Content moderation
In August 2017, Bumble partnered with the
Anti-Defamation League to remove users who display
hate symbols in their profiles.
In March 2018, Bumble banned photos of users posing with guns following the
Parkland high school shooting
On February 14, 2018, a mass shooting occurred when 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz opened fire on students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, part of the Miami metropolitan area, Parkland, Florida, killing 17 people and injuring 18 ot ...
.
As reported by ''
Wired
Wired may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* ''Wired'' (Jeff Beck album), 1976
* ''Wired'' (Hugh Cornwell album), 1993
* ''Wired'' (Mallory Knox album), 2017
* "Wired", a song by Prism from their album '' Beat Street''
* "Wired ...
'' in 2023, the
Bureau of Investigative Journalism
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, typically abbreviated to TBIJ or "the Bureau", is a nonprofit news organisation based in London that was founded in 2010 to pursue "public interest" investigations. The Bureau works with publishers and bro ...
interviewed
content moderators working for Bumble, finding that they claimed to experience anxiety, depression, and
PTSD
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that develops from experiencing a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, warfare and its associated traumas, natural disaster, traffic collision, ...
associated with their work, with concerns about professional mental health support, productivity targets, and understaffing.
In July 2024, Bumble introduced a reporting option for profiles using photos generated by
artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...
.
User verification
Formerly, Bumble users were required to log in via Facebook when signing up. In April 2018, Bumble added an option to sign up using only a phone number, following Facebook's involvement in a
controversy with Cambridge Analytica. For users who sign up with Facebook, information from their account is used to build a profile with photos and basic information, including the user's college and job.
Bumble launched a photo verification tool in September 2016 to ensure that users of the app were the same people in their profile pictures. To be verified, users are asked to submit a selfie of them performing a specific pose; the picture is reviewed by a real person who ensures the user is the person in the profile pictures. Bumble was the first dating app to include photo verification in the US. In 2025, the app also included an option to become ID-verified.
Filters
In 2020, Bumble announced a temporary feature that allowed users to expand their distance filters to match with anyone in the same country. Previously, the app only allowed people to connect within a range. Daters could also add a "virtual dating" badge to their profile to indicate that they are willing to date over video calls.
On January 15, 2021, Bumble temporarily suspended the option to filter matches by political preference to "prevent misuse". The move came after several women allegedly used Bumble to gather information from people who had
attacked the United States Capitol, and then forwarded that information to the
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
. Bumble was criticized by many of its users for being perceived to "protect terrorists" by suspending the filter. Bumble announced that it would be reinstating the option to filter by political preferences later that day.
Paid subscriptions
In August 2016, Bumble announced the release of its paid service, Bumble Boost, which includes three premium features. These features included Beeline, a list of users who have liked the user; Rematch, which keeps expired matches in a user's queue for 24 additional hours; and Extend, which allows users unlimited 24-hour extensions for matches.
Use of artificial intelligence
In April 2019, Bumble launched Private Detector, an
image classifier for detecting unsolicited nude photos. It allows users to decide if they want to view, block or report the image.
Bumble made the tool
open source
Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use and view the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open source model is a decentrali ...
in October 2022.
In February 2024, Bumble introduced Deception Detector, a
machine learning
Machine learning (ML) is a field of study in artificial intelligence concerned with the development and study of Computational statistics, statistical algorithms that can learn from data and generalise to unseen data, and thus perform Task ( ...
model that detects fake user profiles. Of those accounts identified as spam/scam profiles, Bumble Inc.’s testing showed that Deception Detector was able to block up to 95% these accounts automatically. That March, Bumble collaborated with
Phaedra Parks,
Parvati Shallow
Parvati Shallow ( ; born September 21, 1982) is an American television personality, best known for competing on multiple seasons of the reality game show Survivor (American TV series), ''Survivor''. She was the winner of ''Survivor: Micronesia, S ...
and
Peter Weber of the
Peacock
Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...
reality show
''The Traitors'' to launch the feature.
In August 2024, Bumble said it is developing a
chatbot
A chatbot (originally chatterbot) is a software application or web interface designed to have textual or spoken conversations. Modern chatbots are typically online and use generative artificial intelligence systems that are capable of main ...
to help users with flirting.
Other features
In June 2016, Bumble announced a partnership with
Spotify
Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...
that would allow users to connect a Spotify account to their profile to show their music interests.
In March 2017, the company announced its plan to launch a career networking app, Bumble Bizz.
In October 2017, the company launched Bumble Bizz which also uses a woman-first interface.
In September 2018, a "snooze" feature was added to allow users to pause activity and avoid using the app for some time.
In June 2019, Bumble announced that it would be enabling in-app voice and video calls on all of its platforms, including Bumble, Bumble Bizz, and Bumble BFF. Users must match first before initiating a call. Bumble's vice president of strategy reported "an 84 percent increase in video calls that were placed between users" during the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.
Security vulnerabilities
In June 2021,
Stripe
Stripe, striped, or stripes may refer to:
Decorations
*Stripe (pattern), a line or band that differs in colour or tone from an adjacent surface
*Racing stripe, a vehicle decoration
* Service stripe, a decoration of the U.S. military
Entertainment ...
software engineer Robert Heaton found a
security vulnerability
Vulnerabilities are flaws or weaknesses in a system's design, implementation, or management that can be exploited by a malicious actor to compromise its security.
Despite a system administrator's best efforts to achieve complete correctness, vir ...
in Bumble that would allow an attacker to obtain the exact location of its users via
trilateration
Trilateration is the use of distances (or "ranges") for determining the unknown position coordinates of a point of interest, often around Earth ( geopositioning).
When more than three distances are involved, it may be called multilateration, f ...
. Bumble fixed the vulnerability three days later and paid Heaton a
bug bounty of $2000.
In August 2024, researchers at
KU Leuven
KU Leuven (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) is a Catholic research university in the city of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. Founded in 1425, it is the oldest university in Belgium and the oldest university in the Low Countries.
In addition to its mai ...
in Belgium found that several dating apps, including Bumble, had vulnerabilities that would allow bad actors to obtain users' locations via trilateration.
Users
As of 2024, Bumble had a reported 4 million paying users and was the most downloaded dating application in the United States with 735,000 downloads.
first date
A first date is the initial meeting during the dating process of two individuals, in which an effort is made to ask about each other, plan a potential relationship, and/or organize some sort of romantic activity. Aims vary between finding a ...
with someone they found on the app within the previous month.
In October 2016, the app launched new photo moderation rules that banned mirror selfies, obscured faces, and photos of users in underwear among others. According to ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', as of March 2017, Bumble had more than 800 million matches and 10 billion swipes per month and was the second most popular Lifestyle app in the iOS App Store
The App Store is an app marketplace developed and maintained by Apple, for mobile apps on its iOS and iPadOS operating systems. The store allows users to browse and download approved apps developed within Apple's iOS SDK. Apps can be download ...
.The Economist
''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...
'' reported that 61% of Bumble users were men.
Legislation
Cyberflashing
Bumble was the first dating app to explicitly moderate for unsolicited nude images, known as cyberflashing. In 2019, the app launched Private Detector, a feature that uses artificial intelligence to automatically detect and blur nude images.
Reproductive rights
Bumble led an amicus brief
An amicus curiae (; ) is an individual or organization that is not a party to a legal case, but that is permitted to assist a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case. Whether an ''amic ...
in both '' Zurawski v. State of Texas'' (2023) and '' Moyle v. United States'' (2024), arguing in favor of reproductive rights.
Reception
Feminist label
Bumble has been described as a "feminist
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...
Tinder".neo-Nazi
Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...
website ''The Daily Stormer
''The Daily Stormer'' is an American neo-Nazi commentary and message board website that advocates for a Second Holocaust, second genocide of Jews. It is part of the alt-right movement. Its editor, Andrew Anglin, founded the outlet on July 4, ...
'' encouraged its readers to harass Bumble's staff to protest the company's support of women's empowerment.
In August 2018, Bumble launched the Bumble Fund to support women-led startups. Following the testimony of Christine Blasey Ford
Christine Margaret Blasey Ford ( ; born November 1966) is an American professor of psychology at Palo Alto University and a research psychologist at the Stanford University School of Medicine. She specializes in designing statistical models ...
against Brett Kavanaugh
Brett Michael Kavanaugh (; born February 12, 1965) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President Donald Trump on July 9, 2018, and has served since Oct ...
, Bumble ran the “Believe Women” ad campaign and donated to RAINN
The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) is an American nonprofit anti-sexual assault organization, the largest in the United States. RAINN operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline, as well as the Department of Defense Safe Helpline ...
.
Bumble launched a three-year partnership with the National Domestic Violence Hotline
The National Domestic Violence Hotline (NDVH) is a 24-hour confidential service in the United States for survivors, victims and those affected by domestic violence, intimate partner violence and relationship abuse. Advocates are available at 1- ...
in 2020.
In 2021, Bumble set up a relief fund for those affected by the Texas Heartbeat Act
The Texas Heartbeat Act, Senate Bill 8 (SB 8), is an Statute, act of the Texas Legislature that bans abortion after the Six-week abortion ban, detection of embryonic or fetal cardiac activity, which normally occurs after about six weeks of p ...
.
In response to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn ''Roe v. Wade
''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protected the right to have an ...
'', Bumble made additional donations to the ACLU
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million.
...
of Texas and Planned Parenthood
The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is an American nonprofit organization .
In February 2023, writer Sangeeta Singh-Kurtz wrote that "it often seems like that feminist twist is more marketing fodder than meaningful change to how our apps run our love lives."
Lawsuits
In March 2018, Match Group
Match Group, Inc. is an American internet and technology company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. It owns and operates the largest global portfolio of popular online dating services including Tinder, Match.com, Meetic, OkCupid, Hinge, Plenty ...
sued Bumble arguing that it was guilty of patent infringement and of stealing trade secrets from Tinder. In June 2020, an undisclosed settlement was reached between Match Group and Bumble to settle all litigations.
In 2020, Bumble agreed to pay $22.5 million in a settlement over plaintiffs' claims that the company's auto-renewal processes were unfair. The class action lawsuit, filed in California, said Bumble charged consumers without their consent. Bumble admitted no wrongdoing in the case.
Celibacy adverts
In May 2024, Bumble faced major backlash after launching a marketing campaign that entailed putting up billboards with captions such as: "You know full well a vow of celibacy is not the answer". Users accused the campaign of shaming women who were not sexually active. Bumble responded with a public apology, wherein the company said it would remove the ads and donate to the National Domestic Violence Hotline
The National Domestic Violence Hotline (NDVH) is a 24-hour confidential service in the United States for survivors, victims and those affected by domestic violence, intimate partner violence and relationship abuse. Advocates are available at 1- ...
.
See also
* Comparison of online dating services This is a partial, non-exhaustive list of notable online dating websites and mobile apps.
__TOC__
Online dating services
{, class="sticky-header-multi wikitable sortable sticky-table-row1 sticky-table-col1 mw-collapsible" style="font-size: 9 ...
References
External links
*
{{Online social networking
Internet properties established in 2014
Geosocial networking
Mobile social software
Online dating services of the United States
Online dating applications
2019 mergers and acquisitions
Feminism in the United States
2021 initial public offerings
Companies listed on the Nasdaq
Companies based in Austin, Texas