BNN BLOOMBERG – Mar 22 – Canadian fashion stylist and TV personality Jessica Mulroney has been named a strategic advisor for Bumble. Mulroney joins Serena Williams and actor Priyanka Chopra, who have been named advisors and ambassadors for the "women first" dating app in which females initiate conversation. Mulroney will work with the company's senior executive team on growing the company's other social-media platforms including Bumble Bizz and Bumble BFF. Mulroney will also participate in Bumble's mentorship and networking events in Canada.
Category: Bumble
Bumble in Talks for First Round of VC Funding
AXIOS – Mar 21 – Bumble is in talks to raise what would be its first round of traditional VC funding. One potential investor is said to be Accel Growth.
Serena Williams Joins Bumble’s Investment Fund as an Investor
TECH CRUNCH – Mar 21 – Launched in 2018, the Bumble Fund backs early-stage businesses founded and led by women. The fund's commitments range between $5K and $250K with an average check size of $25K. Williams has been investing in women and minority-owned businesses through Serena Ventures since 2014. She also serves on the boards of the tech companies Poshmark and SurveyMonkey. She began her relationship with Bumble in January, culminating with a starring role in the company's most recent Super Bowl commercial earlier this year and will be leading the Bumble Fund pitch competition next month, along with Bumble founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd. Through Serena Ventures, Williams already has invested in over thirty companies while the Bumble Fund has made nine investments to date.
Bumble Is Launching a Podcast to Help People Unsubscribe From Negativity
STANDARD.CO.UK – Mar 14 – Bumble's new show Unsubscribe is about empowering its listeners to remove the negative things in their lives. It is hosted by the app's international VP of marketing and communications, Louise Troen, and mental health and body activist Jada Sezer. Produced by Sony 4th Floor Creative Group, each episode will feature conversations with different guests about being mindful of the effects of our emotions and practices.
Houston’s Alice Among Women-Led Startups Receiving Bumble Funding
XCONOMY – Mar 8 – Alice, a Houston-based digital community that connects women founders to resources tailored to their startup's needs, has received funding from the Bumble Fund. The fund, which was launched last July by Bumble, a women-oriented dating app, did not specify the amount it invested in the startups. Carolyn Rodz, Alice's founder and CEO, said in an interview that the funds will be used for software development as well as new hires. She also declined to specify Bumble's investment amount. Bumble Fund is also investing in three other startups: Gixo, a fitness app that says it turns smartphones into gyms; Translator, which makes diversity and inclusion training software for companies, schools, and nonprofits; and Promise, which makes software for criminal justice organizations to help reduce recidivism. Bumble says its venture fund makes investments ranging from $5K – to $250K in portfolio companies.
Bumble’s Women-only Networking Feature Isn’t a Job Discrimination Tool
Bumble’s Founder Is on a Mission to Clean Up the Internet
INC – Mar 2 – A bill was introduced Thursday in the Texas House of Representatives that would make sending an unsolicited nude or sexual photograph a misdemeanor punishable with a fine up to $500. Whitney Wolfe Herd, the founder of Bumble, put the spotlight on so-called cyberflashing. "Right now the Internet is the Wild Wild West. It's ridiculous that there is no accountability online for things you are not allowed to do in the real world," said Wolfe Herd. "We are trying to make a law for indecent exposure, but for the digital realm." A few months ago Wolfe Herd hired a lobbyist to help seed the idea. On Thursday Texas Rep. Morgan Meyer, a Republican from Dallas, took up the issue and introduced a bill that would add to the state penal code an offense "of unlawful electronic transmission of sexually explicit visual material." As written and if passed, the bill would take effect September 1, 2019.
Bumble Launches Making Moves in Music Initiative
Bumble Is Launching a Women-first Networking Tool That Lets Recruiters Exclude Men
CNBC – Mar 1 – Bumble is launching a women-only filter for its professional networking tool, Bumble Bizz. The Women in Bizz feature, which can be turned on or off in app settings, excludes men from a user's pool of potential connections. Bumble Bizz, launched in late 2017, is often used by recruiters or hiring managers to find new talent. Limiting the potential pool could help women compete for jobs in male-dominated industries.
Bumble Plans International Expansion for Its £100K Female Filmmakers’ Scheme
SCREEN DAILY – Feb 28 – Last year, Bumble put up £100K to fund short films from five filmmaking teams from the UK and Ireland – the completed films were screened at an industry event in London earlier this year and are now being submitted to screen at festivals. For the second edition the project will also take submissions from both France and Germany. The applications process is now open and will run until March 20, with 10 chosen teams to be invited to pitch to the judging panel in June this year. Final five teams will then be expected to deliver completed films by January 2020. The company is accepting applications from anyone who identifies as a woman.
by Tom Grater
See full article at Screen Daily
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