Bumble Inc.
American internet dating technology company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
 | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Nasdaq: BMBL | |
| Industry | Online dating |
| Founded | 2014 |
| Founder | Whitney Wolfe Herd |
| Headquarters | , United States |
Area served | Global |
Key people |
|
| Brands | Badoo, Bumble |
| Revenue |  US$1.07 billion (2024) |
 US$−700 million (2024) | |
| 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 |
| Footnotes / references [1][2] | |
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]