Bumble to go private in $1.3B acquisition

Bumble agreed to a $1.3 billion acquisition Tuesday that would take the dating app private, after years of falling revenue amid a shift in online dating habits.

Bumble distinguished itself by only allowing women to message first, eventually going public in 2021 at a $14 billion valuation, before scrapping its hallmark rule this year amid declining users.

It might now reinvent itself “away from the pressure of public markets,” but the company’s difficulties speak to “growing dissatisfaction with the familiar swipe-based model,” TechCrunch wrote.

Other dating apps are rethinking their practices: Hinge is experimenting in India with blocking screenshots of dating profiles over concerns they were being used to spread “shame” and cynicism around online dating, WIRED reported.