TECH CRUNCH – Aug 10 - Bumble, the dating app where only women can initiate the conversations, is introducing a new verification feature – VIBee. The verification is based on users' positive contributions to Bumble. Verified users get a sticker on their profile and will be able to turn on a mode where they’re presented only with other VIBee users. The verification process is driven by an algorithm that takes into account behavior like what % of a user’s conversations are two-way, if a user has ever been reported for spam or abuse, or how likely a user is to follow up on conversations.
Category: Bumble
Interview With Whitney Wolfe, Founder Of Bumble
VANITYFAIR – Aug 7 - Tinder co-founder Whitney Wolfe’s current venture is Bumble, a dating app where women have to make the first move.
Q: What inspired you to come up with Bumble?
A: I am a huge advocate for anti-bullying in our youth. Young girls are facing tremendous pressure online.
Q: Do you consider Bumble a feminist company?
A: We are 100% feminist.
Q: On Bumble, women must begin conversations. How do you think it’s changed the way things work in the online dating world?
A: By having the lady make the first move, men don't feel rejection. They are flattered. That one little shift, that one little change, makes all the difference.
Q: What about this overlaying concern of how sexualized online dating has become?
A: It’s an app. Just like a bar. You’re never going to see a sign on a bar that says “only for hookups tonight”. It’s a place to meet people, and whatever you want to do with your interactions is really up to you.
Q: There is some speculation about how hyper-attractive some of your users are. Are these models who are meant to encourage your users in some way?
A: We hear that all the time. We are not by any means trying to show a certain type of person before another type of person.
Bumble, The Dating App Where Women Make The First Move
THE WASHINGTON POST – July 11 – On Bumble, every user can swipe left or right like on Tinder, but once a match is established, only female users can send an initial message to her matches. They can do so in 24h. According to Bumble, ~60% of matches result in a conversation.
Bumble Dating App Tops 1 Million Unique Conversations
TECH CRUNCH – June 12 – Bumble, the dating app founded by ex-Tinder employees, said its female users have started ~1M conversations on the platform. Bumble works like Tinder but once a match is established, only females can initiate conversations. ~60% of matches result in a conversation, according to cofounder Whitney Wolfe. Monthly active users grew by 65% during May. 55% of users are male and 45% female.
by Fitz Tepper
See full article at Tech Crunch
Bumble, Siren, The Grade – Female Friendly Dating Apps
THE GUARDIAN – Apr 12 – There are now ~91M people on dating apps – and most of that is thanks to Tinder that makes 21M matches and processes 1.5B swipes every day. A new generation of app developers, many of them women, are launching female-orientated dating apps where women are the gatekeepers. One of them is Bumble, founded by Tinder co-founder Whitney Wolfe. "Bumble is about establishing equality", she says. "When some men feel rejected, they respond with aggression. So if we eliminate the rejection, what is there to be aggressive about?” Susie Lee is the creator of Siren, an app where a woman’s photos are hidden to men until she chooses to match with them. Siren is expanding globally in the summer. Even more interesting is Wyldfire. The app's initial unique selling point is that only men invited by women could be a part of the app, though it has recently introduced an “election” feature where men can offer themselves up to have their profile vetted by female members. The Grade marks users from A+ to F depending on their popularity, quality of messages and responsiveness.
by Hannah Ellis-Petersen
See full article at The Guardian
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Tinder Co-Founder Whitney Wolfe On Her New Women-First Dating App
RACKED.COM – Mar 24 – Bumble, a dating app created by Tinder's co-founder Whitney Wolfe, requires women to make the first move. If she doesn’t start the conversation within 24 hours, the match disappears. The app boasts more than a million matches, as well as a global network of ambassadors (cool girls enlisted to spread the "buzz" about Bumble).
Q: How did the idea of Bumble come about?
A: I actually had a different idea. I wanted to start a Snapchat or Instagram-like social platform app that would encourage kindness among young women.
Q: What made you change directions?
A: CEO of Badoo, Andrey Andreev, who is my partner at Bumble now. He told me online dating was a good place to stay right now.
Q: Who is Bumble's target demographic?
A: Age 18 to 35. But we want to be the brand that any woman can turn to.
Q: How are you tapping into the growing college market?
A: We have a very strong college representative program in place right now, with ~90 college reps.
Q: How would you describe the actual user pool?
A: It’s a very sophisticated and international group.
Q: Would you say that the Bumble user takes dating more seriously than a Tinder user?
A: People have been taking Bumble quite seriously. The fact that we include job and education in the profiles, it makes it feel more secure.
Q: What does your team look like now?
A: We’re a team of 12, including developers.
Bumble Wants To Be Tinder & Hinge In One
NY POST – Mar 11 – Whitney Wolfe is best known for co-founding Tinder and then suing the hookup app for sexual harassment in June. “Women run the world right now,” says Wolfe, who settled out of court with IAC for a rumored $1M. She started Bumble, a dating app where women make the first move. Bumble has hundreds of thousands of users, and ~12% week-over-week growth. Bumble plans to tap the “matchmaking for friends” market in the next few months and grow usership to 1M.
by Dana Schuster
See full article at NY Post
Bumble Launches ’”Backtrack” To Take Back Accidental Left Swipes
TECH CRUNCH – Mar 11 – Bumble, the dating app created by former Tinder VP of Marketing Whitney Wolfe, has released a feature called Backtrack that is identical to the rewind feature in Tinder Plus, allowing users to reverse accidental left swipes. Unlike Tinder, however, Bumble users each have three free backtracks, which refill after three hours. If a user needs more than three backtracks, that user can share Bumble on social media sites.
Dating Apps That Give Women More Power
SF CHRONICLE – Feb 21 – When designing her new dating app, Bumble, Whitney Wolfe was inspired by the Sadie Hawkins dance, in which women reverse traditional courtship rituals by asking the men to the dance. The app works similarly to Tinder, which Wolfe co-founded. The difference? With Bumble, only the woman is allowed to send the first message after a mutual match is made. The Catch, launched on Valentine’s Day, “gamifies” the selection process with a Q&A from the woman to a handful of candidates. Project Fixup, ensures that the guy actually wants to date, rather than simply chat, with a pay-per-date model that arranges the person, time and place; the two parties only have to “accept” and show up.
by Maghan McDowell
See full article at SF Chronicle
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Rise Of Niche Tinders
TECH CRUNCH – Feb 17 – Tinder-like app keep popping up. There is Hinge for yuppies, The League for elitists, Bumble for shy guys, The Catch for wordsmiths, Meld for black professionals, Willow for those who care about personality not looks, HeavenlySinful for those who want to get laid, etc. Right now, Tinder seems to be sticking with its one-app-fits-all approach with no plans on catering to niches. It’d be wise for IAC to at least explore the idea of building its own Micro-Tinders, adding some more segmentation into its main app. There are a lot of hot people to swipe right, but finding someone who is a good match can take plenty of train wreck dates. Better sorting preferences could connect people who are actually compatible.