Bumble Inc.

Bumble Inc.

Company type	Public
Traded as	Nasdaq:  BMBL
Industry	Online dating
Founded	2014;12 years ago (2014)
Founder	Whitney Wolfe Herd
Headquarters	Austin, Texas , United States
Area served	Global
Key people	Whitney Wolfe Herd (CEO) Ann Mather (chair)
Brands	Badoo, Bumble
Revenue	US$1.07 billion (2024)
Operating income	US$−700 million (2024)
Net income	US$−557 million (2024)
Total assets	US$2.52 billion (2024)
Total equity	US$1.35 billion (2024)
Owner	Blackstone Inc. (27%) Whitney Wolfe Herd (12%)
Number of employees	1,200 (2024)
Website	bumble.com
Footnotes /references [1] [2]

Bumble Inc., headquartered in Austin, Texas, is a holding company that owns Bumble, Badoo, and BFF, ^[3] all of which are online dating and social networking apps.

History

The company was founded as MagicLab by Andrey Andreev and launched Badoo in 2006. ^{[4] [5]}

In 2014, Whitney Wolfe Herd founded Bumble shortly after leaving Tinder, where she was a co-founder and VP of Marketing. Badoo co-founder and CEO Andrey Andreev encouraged her to start a new dating app and brought her on as a partner in MagicLab. Andreev retained 79% ownership in the company for an investment of $10 million, along with additional investments, consulting services, and use of Badoo's infrastructure; Wolfe Herd served as CEO and received a 20% ownership stake. ^{[6] [7] [8] [5] [9] [10]}

The Bumble app was launched in December 2014. ^[11]

The company was valued at more than $1 billion in November 2017. ^[5]

In 2017, UK-based gay dating app Chappy was funded primarily by Bumble and Wolfe Herd. ^[12] The app closed down in February 2020. ^[13]

In 2019, Blackstone Inc. purchased a majority stake in MagicLab at a valuation of the company of $3 billion. ^[14]

In 2020, MagicLab was renamed Bumble Inc. ^[15]

In February 2021, the company became a public company via an initial public offering on the Nasdaq, raising $2.2 billion with a valuation of over $7 billion. ^{[16] [17] [18] [19]}

In February 2022, in its first acquisition, Bumble acquired Fruitz, a France-based freemium dating app popular with Generation Z in Europe. ^[20] In May 2023, Bumble acquired Official, an app that helped couples strengthen their relationship through mood check-ins and date planning. ^[21]

In February 2024, Bumble announced layoffs of 350 employees, 30% of its workforce, as part of a restructuring plan. ^{[22] [23]}

In June 2024, Bumble acquired Geneva, a friend-finding group chat app. ^{[24] [25]}

In January 2024, Wolfe Herd moved to executive chair of the company and hired Lidiane Jones as the Bumble Inc. CEO. ^{[26] [27]} One year later, in January 2025, Wolfe Herd announced that she would be returning as CEO in March 2025. ^[28]

In June 2025, Bumble announced layoffs of 240 positions, or 30% of its workforce in a cost cutting measure that is assumed to save Bumble $40 million annually. ^{[29] [30] [31] [32] [33]}

References

1. "Bumble Inc. 2024 Annual Report (Form 10-K)". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. February 28, 2025. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
2. "Bumble Inc. Schedule 14A". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. April 17, 2025.
3. Lauren Forristal (September 18, 2025). "Bumble BFF's revamped app is here, focusing on friend groups and community building". Tech Crunch. Retrieved January 25, 2026.
4. Elana Lyn Gross (May 10, 2019). "Bumble Launched A New Initiative To Support A Cause Whenever A Woman Makes The First Move". Forbes . Retrieved October 4, 2025.
5. O'Connor, Clare (November 14, 2017). "Billion-Dollar Bumble: How Whitney Wolfe Herd Built America's Fastest-Growing Dating App". Forbes . Archived from the original on February 13, 2021.
6. Kosoff, Maya (November 4, 2014). "Report: Ousted Tinder Cofounder Settled Her Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against The Company For 'Just Over $1 Million'". Business Insider . Archived from the original on February 13, 2021.
7. Garcia-Navarro, Lulu (May 10, 2025). "Can Whitney Wolfe Herd Make Us Love Dating Apps Again" . The New York Times .
8. Shontell, Alyson (January 27, 2015). "What It's Like To Found A $750 Million Startup, Go Through A Sexual-Harassment Lawsuit, And Start All Over By Age 25". Business Insider . Archived from the original on February 13, 2021.
9. Au-Yeung, Angel. "The Russian Billionaire Cupid Behind The Biggest Dating App in the World". Forbes. Archived from the original on March 17, 2024. Retrieved May 27, 2018.
10. Albert-Deitch, Cameron (July 9, 2019). "Sexual Misconduct Allegations Against Bumble's Majority Investor Threaten to Throttle the Company's Pro-Woman Cred". Inc. Archived from the original on March 4, 2024. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
11. "Bumble is a dating app where women take lead". The Star. April 28, 2015. Archived from the original on October 29, 2020. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
12. "6 things you need to know about gay dating app Chappy". Evening Standard. 2017-08-17. Archived from the original on July 26, 2020. Retrieved 2020-03-05.
13. Milton, Josh (2020-02-17). "Gay dating app Chappy is shutting down this month and now we'll be single for all eternity". PinkNews. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
14. Reader, Ruth (November 8, 2019). "Dating app Bumble and its sister apps are now worth $3 billion". Fast Company . Archived from the original on August 10, 2025.
15. LaPorte, Nicole (July 15, 2020). "Bumble hits 100 million users—and has new plans to take over the dating world". Fast Company. Archived from the original on August 3, 2020. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
16. "Bumble: Female-founded dating app tops $13bn in market debut". BBC News . February 11, 2021. Archived from the original on February 15, 2021.
17. Subin, Samantha (February 11, 2021). "Bumble IPO: The female founder behind the dating app making market history". CNBC . Archived from the original on April 1, 2022.
18. Kruppa, Miles; Murphy, Hannah (February 11, 2021). "Bumble valued at $13bn as investors fall in love with dating app" . Financial Times . Archived from the original on February 14, 2021.
19. McEvoy, Jemima (November 21, 2021). "Bumble Hits A Speed Bump—Why The Dating App's Shares Are At A Low Since Its Buzzy IPO" . Forbes . Archived from the original on November 24, 2023.
20. "Dating app owner Bumble buys France's Fruitz in first acquisition". Reuters. February 7, 2022. Archived from the original on March 18, 2022. Retrieved 2022-04-01.
21. Bursztynsky, Jessica (May 18, 2023). "Bumble acquires Official, an app that helps couples strengthen their relationship" . Fast Company .
22. Capoot, Ashley (February 27, 2024). "Bumble to lay off 350 employees as tech industry job cuts mount". CNBC . Archived from the original on May 3, 2024. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
23. Lung, Natalie (February 28, 2024). "Bumble joins the tech layoff trend, cutting a third of its staff after CEO shakeup as it struggles to entice new paying users to its dating apps". Fortune . Archived from the original on May 17, 2024. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
24. Jessica Formoso (June 13, 2024). "Bumble expands social circle with Geneva friend-finding app acquisition". Fox. Retrieved October 18, 2024.
25. Olivia Hebert (May 21, 2024). "Bumble buys community-focused app Geneva to further expand into friendship market". The Independent. Retrieved October 18, 2024.
26. Singh, Jaspreet (November 8, 2023). "Bumble forecasts weak fourth-quarter revenue, shares fall". Reuters . Archived from the original on November 24, 2023.
27. Duffy, Clare (November 6, 2023). "Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd steps down as CEO. She'll be replaced by Slack's leader". CNN .
28. "Bumble's new CEO is already leaving the company as shares fell 54% since killing the signature feature and letting men message first". Fortune. January 17, 2025.
29. "Dating app Bumble is laying off 30% of its workforce". CNN . June 25, 2025.
30. "Dating app Bumble to lay off hundreds of staff amid turnaround bid". The Guardian . June 25, 2025.
31. Malik, Aisha (June 25, 2025). "Bumble to lay off 30% of its workforce". TechCrunch .
32. Lung, Natalie (June 25, 2025). "Bumble Announces 30% Job Cuts as It Raises Quarterly Outlook" . Bloomberg News .
33. Cone, Allen (June 25, 2025). "Dating app company Bumble cuts 30% of workforce in turnaround bid". United Press International .