Category: Bumble
Bumble Says UK Cyber Flashing Bill Isn’t Enough
MASHABLE – Bumble, along with UN Women UK, TV personality Amy Hart, and the magazine Grazia, are calling for a change in the UK's proposed Online Safety Bill (OSB). The current legislation concerning cyber flashing, or sending unsolicited nude images without consent, is based on whether the sender had harmful intent. This is difficult to validate and prove, Bumble and supporters say, and would give room for those who cyber flash to claim it was a "joke." Instead, Bumble's campaigning for the cyber flashing portion of OSB to be consent-based. Almost half (48%) of UK adults aged 18-24 have received a sexual photo they didn't ask for, according to a 2021 survey of 1,800 respondents in England and Wales.
47% of Gen Z Daters Think Men Should Take the Lead in Relationships
CNBC – According to data from Bumble's State of the Nation 2023 survey, 40% of Americans believe that men should take the lead in a relationship, and 47% of Gen Z respondents subscribe to this belief. The survey also found that only 11% of respondents believed women should make the first move on a dating app. Jessica Small, a marriage counselor and therapist, explains that despite progress towards gender equality, traditional gender roles and beliefs still influence the dating landscape, especially in the early stages of dating when women may not feel comfortable being forward. However, once a couple is in a defined relationship, Small feels women usually take the lead in household and social matters.
Bumble Launches New Speed Dating Feature
DNA INDIA – Speed Dating is part of a bundle of new features that also includes Recommend to a Friend, which allows the Bumble community to play cupid and help find their friends new connections. Speed Dating allows users to go in 'blind' and prioritise personality over physical attraction. It requires people to start conversations without seeing any pictures of the other person, with profile photos hidden for the first three minutes of messaging. Once the time is up, each person will be asked if they would like to continue the conversation and if both people choose to match, their chat will live in their Date Mode queue and their profile will be available to view following the event. Speed Dating pairings are based on location, age and gender preferences.
Creative Minds: Bumble’s Naomi Walkland
LITTLE BLACK BOOK – Naomi Walkland, the VP EMEA marketing at Bumble, discusses what makes a "creative mind" and how to inspire creativity in others. She believes that curiosity is the key to creativity and that creativity can take many different forms. Naomi thinks creativity can be developed and nurtured over time, and she finds time for creativity even as a new mother. The modern world is changing what creativity looks like, and technology like GENIE can democratize opportunities for creatives. Naomi cites the Nike and Tiffany partnership as an example of how two completely different brands can come together and create something new and unique.
Dating Apps Seeing “Some Upside Limit” to User Growth”
THE GLOBAL HERALD – Citi Director of Internet Equity Research Ygal Arounian joins Yahoo Finance Live to analyze Bumble's position in the online dating space and how the dating app and competitors like the Match Group may be experiencing slowing user growth.
Bumble and Panorama Global Partner to Combat Image-Based Sexual Abuse
PANORAMA – On the 20th anniversary of Safer Internet Day, Panorama Global and Bumble have joined forces to combat image-based sexual abuse (IBSA) online. IBSA happens when someone shares or threatens to share explicit images without someone's consent. It can reach a global audience quickly via pornographic websites or social media platforms. This issue remains an under-recognized crime that has largely been ignored by judicial systems around the world. The partners hosted the Lived Experience Summit where survivors shared their experiences. They also established partnerships with government agencies and regulatory commissions in Australia, South Korea, South Africa, and Taiwan. To address the challenges in this space, they will co-develop a strategy that advocates for new and stronger laws, better survivor support, innovative technology solutions, and widespread prevention strategies. 1 in 12 U.S. adults report that they have been victim of image-based abuse. Women are 1.7 times more likely to be targeted than men. Those who identify as LGBTQ+ are 4 times more likely to be victims than those who identify as heterosexual. 51% of IBSA victims in the US have contemplated suicide.
Whitney Wolfe Herd: How I Built a Tech Company With Women in Control
FORBES INDIA – On International Women's Day 2023, Whitney Wolfe Herd, founder and CEO of Bumble, shares career advice aligned with the theme of DigitAll: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality. She advises turning challenges into fuel, knowing your weaknesses, and hiring for them, throwing old rules out the window, not glorifying the grind, and embracing kindness as power. Her mission with Bumble has always been to make the Internet a better place for women, and she believes that her work offers entrepreneurs a blueprint for how to succeed in a saturated field.
Bumble Stock Falls as CEO and Blackstone Plan to Sell Shares
BUSINESSWIRE – Bumble, the parent company of Bumble, Badoo, and Fruitz, has announced that some of its shareholders will sell 12.5M shares of the company's Class A common stock to the public. The selling shareholders are affiliated with Blackstone, a private equity firm, and Whitney Wolfe Herd, the founder of Bumble. Bumble itself will not be selling any shares in this offering and will not receive any of the money from the sale. Bumble shares declined more than 7% today following this announcement.
Blackstone and Bumble Are Still a Fitting Match
REUTERS – Blackstone's investment in Bumble has proved to be lucrative despite the company's decline in share price since the IPO in 2021. Blackstone bought a majority stake in Bumble in 2019, valuing it at ~$3B. Bumble's enterprise value is now closer to $4B, and Blackstone still owns 40% of its equity. The private equity firm has made back its investment and more, selling ~$2B in stock in the public offering, nabbing another $1B in a secondary offer, and receiving ~$300M in dividends. Blackstone's current stake, including a minority interest, is worth ~$2B based on public market prices.