Bumble: Female Founded Dating App Rakes In A Market Value Of $13b

Bumble has taken on a fresh, new approach to modern dating. The dating company’s about page goes into detail about how healthy relationships are central to living a positive, productive life. With women required to make the first move, the app is shifting old-fashioned power dynamics and encouraging equality from the start. Chief Executive Officer, Whitney Wolfe Herd’s stake in the women-centric dating app operator was worth nearly $2 billion, as shares rallied for a second straight day after a blockbuster debut on Thursday.

Herd launched Bumble in Texas in 2014, with backing from Russian billionaire Andreey Andreev, the founder of European online dating site Badoo. She has said she was inspired to create a platform where women “make the first move” by her frustration with archaic gender norms controlling dating. While in same-sex matches either person can send a message first.

With the blockbuster IPO, Herd, 31, became the youngest female CEO to ever take a company public as she rang the opening bell from Bumble’s Austin-based offices. The women-first approach has set Bumble apart in a competitive online dating market, she said.

She who graduated with a degree in International Studies from the Southern Methodist University’s Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences before launching the Bumble app.

Herd is also a co-founder of rival app Tinder, which she later sued, alleging that her co-founders subjected her to sexual harassment. Tinder parent Match Group Inc, which denied the allegations, paid about $1 million to settle the dispute.