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.
Category: Bumble
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.
Bumble Q4 Financial Results
BUMBLE – Bumble, the parent company of Bumble, Badoo, and Fruitz, reported its Q4 and the full year 2022 results. In Q4, the total revenue increased 16.7% to $241.6M, while its Bumble App revenue grew 27.7% to $190.8M. Bumble App paying users grew 133K sequentially in Q4; added 502K paying users in FY22 compared to FY21. Badoo and other revenue declined 11.9% to $50.8M, compared to $57.6M. For the full year, Bumble's revenue increased 18.7% to $903.5M. However, the company's net loss for the year was $(114.1)M, compared to net earnings of $281.7M in 2021. The company's CFO expressed confidence in their ability to scale the business and deliver profitable growth in 2023.
Bumble Expected to Post 4Q Profit as Revenue Grows
MARKETWATCH – Bumble is set to post its Q4 results today after the market closes. Bumble is expected to report $235.7M in revenue, up from $208.2M in the year-ago period. Bumble is expected to report $1M in net income, compared with a loss of $14.7M.
The Dating App Revolution Has Hit Japan
JAPAN TIMES – In a recent survey of 20- to 40-year-olds in Japan, 80% of unmarried men and women said they wanted a relationship. But a majority of that number, 55%, said they were moderately or very passive in their approach to dating. In addition to internationally known apps such as Tinder and Bumble, popular Japanese dating apps include Omiai, Pairs, Tapple and YYC (in order from least to most casual). Despite their popularity, users still report complaints about the dating app method in Japan. Men lament getting regularly stood up, and women describe a frequent expectation of sex on the first date that can sometimes turn aggressive. Both men and women have also complained about ghosting. "72% of Tinder members say they want to meet someone who understands exactly what they're looking for," says Kyo Cho, the country manager at Tinder Japan. To address that, Tinder recently introduced a "Relationship Goals" tab for user profiles that lets them display what they're looking for, with the options of "long-term partner," "long-term, open to short," "short-term, open to long," etc.
Bumble Is Bringing Back IRL Events for 2023
STYLIST.CO.UK – Bumble has announced its first lineup of London dating events for the year, kicking off on February 14 and running until the end of March. All events are free and tickets are available via the Bumble app.
Bumble Sued Over ‘Misused’ Public Offering
LAW360 – An investor in Bumble has sued the company's CEO and its controlling shareholder, private equity company Blackstone, claiming they "misused" a September 2021 secondary public offering to allow Blackstone affiliates to offload Bumble shares before the market learned about an adverse trend affecting one of the company's key performance metrics.
Could Mandatory Background Checks Curb Trust Issues on Dating Apps?
GIZMODO – A roundtable discussion was held in Sydney to come up with ways to curb harassment on dating platforms. Ministers, victim-survivors, tech companies, and authorities met online with representatives of Bumble and Tinder. Australia's eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, has warned dating apps that they need to make significant changes and improvements to protect users or face a mandatory code. She's calling on dating apps to be more transparent with their data and what additional safety measures they will implement. Bumble said it had implemented security measures in recent years including a block and report tool that allows users to report any suspicious behavior, photo verification, and Private Detector, which uses AI to detect and blur potentially crude images. The company has also released Private Detector on GitHub, allowing other apps to access the tool. Tinder has photo verification, anti-harassment prompts, and a Trust and Safety team to mediate any reports of concerning behavior on the app. The company also created the Match Group Advisory Council in 2018 to advise Tinder on preventing sexual assault, sex trafficking, and harassment.
by Nikki Main
See full article at Gizmondo
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