Dating App Bumble Seeks To Go Public Early Next Year At $6B-$8B Valuation: Report

Dating app Bumble is planning for an initial public offering early next year, according to a Bloomberg report on Tuesday. 

What Happened: The Bloomberg report claimed that the startup is anticipating a valuation between $6 billion to $8 billion. A majority of the Bumble stake is held by Blackstone group Inc (NYSE: BX). The private equity firm pumped $3 billion in the dating app last year.

Why Does It Matter: Bumble is a location-based social app that allows members with shared interests to communicate with each other. Bumble was launched in 2014 by Whitney Wolfe Herd – a co-founder of the dating app Tinder.

In Sept 2018, CNBC reported a story about Bumble’s IPO plans when the company was pursuing a $400 million lawsuit against market rival Match Group (NASDAQ: MTCH). The report claimed that Bumble was a profitable business from its second year and had over 40 million registered users on its platform at the time.

The Texas-based tech startup has over 100 million registered users, according to TechCrunch. Some of its key competitors include Tinder, Match, and OkCupid. In a span of two years, the number of total registered users has grown 250%, based on the CNBC and TechCrunch reports.