Bumble
| Basic information | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2014 |
| Legal Structure | Public |
| Industry | Online dating, Social networking |
| Also known as | |
| Official website | https://bumble.com/ |
Bumble is an American holding company that owns Bumble, Badoo, and BFF — all of which are online dating and/or social networking mobile apps. Whitney Wolfe Herd, previously a co-founder of Tinder, co-founded the Bumble app in 2014 within MagicLab, the dating-app business owned by Badoo founder Andrey Andreev; in 2019 the private-equity firm Blackstone bought Andreev's majority stake in MagicLab in a deal valuing the business at $3 billion, with Wolfe Herd becoming chief executive of the whole company.[1] Wolfe Herd announced her return to the chief-executive role in January 2025, after stepping down from it in 2023.[2]
Consumer impact summary
[edit | edit source]- Business model: Bumble uses a freemium model. It also offers subscription tiers that range from as little as one day to a one-time lifetime purchase.[3] The "lifetime" option was offered by October 2023.[4]
Incidents
[edit | edit source]Auto-renewal class action settlement (2020)
[edit | edit source]In November 2018, subscribers sued Bumble in California, alleging that its subscription terms violated state auto-renewal laws and "do not inform consumers of their right to cancel the contract, without penalty or obligation, within three business days". In July 2020, a federal magistrate judge granted preliminary approval to a $22.5 million settlement, with estimated payments of $43 to $85 for the California class and $21 to $44 for a nationwide class, and a claims deadline of 23 November 2020.[5]
Anti-celibacy billboard backlash (2024)
[edit | edit source]In May 2024, billboards for a Bumble campaign included lines such as "You know full well a vow of celibacy is not the answer" and "Thou shalt not give up on dating and become a nun". Users on social media criticized the ads for shaming women who were not sexually active.[6][7] Bumble apologized on Instagram, saying the ads were meant to bring "joy and humor", and removed them.[6][7]
Data breach class action (2026)
[edit | edit source]In February 2026, a class action was filed over a January 2026 data breach that the suit attributes to a phishing campaign by the ShinyHunters group, alleging that the stolen data included users' "full names, dates of birth, addresses, home and cell phone numbers, Social Security Numbers, account numbers, chat history, and dating history". The suit noted that an earlier data-breach suit, filed in 2022 over a 2020 breach, had gone to arbitration.[8][9]
Bumble Web discontinued (2026)
[edit | edit source]On 3 August 2026, Bumble ended Bumble Web (the web version of Bumble[10]) for all users, including lifetime customers. This represents a unilateral change of what was agreed in the contract. The reason given was that the company was wanting to focus on its mobile app.[11]
See also
[edit | edit source]References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ Lunden, Ingrid (2019-11-08). "Andrey Andreev sells stake in Bumble owner to Blackstone, Whitney Wolfe Herd now CEO of $3B dating apps business". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 2019-11-08. Retrieved 2026-11-09.
- ↑ Forristal, Lauren (2025-01-17). "Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd to reclaim CEO position in March". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 2025-01-17. Retrieved 2026-11-10.
- ↑ "Bumble Subscription Cost". DatingApps. 2025-07-02. Archived from the original on 2026-08-04. Retrieved 2026-08-03.
- ↑ Honaker, Brigette (2020-07-17). "Judge OKs $22.5M Bumble Auto-Renewal Class Action Settlement". Top Class Actions. Archived from the original on 2020-07-20. Retrieved 2026-11-09.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Belanger, Ashley (2024-05-16). "Bumble apologizes for ads shaming women into sex". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 2024-05-16. Retrieved 2026-11-09.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Sherman, Natalie (2024-05-14). "Bumble apologises for anti-celibacy ad after backlash". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2024-05-14. Retrieved 2026-11-10.
- ↑ Neas, Cora (2026-02-20). "Class action lawsuit brought against dating app Bumble over January data breach". KXAN. Archived from the original on 2026-02-22. Retrieved 2026-11-09.
- ↑ Iovine, Anna (2026-02-23). "Bumble failed to protect user data in ShinyHunters hack, class action suit claims". Mashable. Archived from the original on 2026-02-23. Retrieved 2026-11-09.
- ↑ "Bumble Web". Bumble. Archived from the original on 2026-05-09. Retrieved 2026-05-09.
- ↑ "An update on Bumble web". Bumble. 2026-08-03. Archived from the original on 2026-08-03. Retrieved 2026-08-03.