Whitney Wolf Herd is a dating expert, but not in the sense you might be thinking of. The 31-year-old entrepreneur is the founder and CEO of dating app Bumble, which sets itself apart in the market by allowing the woman to make the first move. Before starting Bumble, Herd was an early executive at Tinder. Her remarkable career has made her the youngest female ever to join the billionaire's club.
Her fortunes just got bigger. Bumble went public last week, and shares soared at the open to notch a +64% rise on the opening day of trading. This values to Austin, Texas based company at $13 billion, even though for the first nine months of 2020 it posted a $118.5 million loss. Even still, Bumble generated about $415 million in revenue over that period, as the company generates revenue selling in-app purchases (premium features) that allow users much more flexibility in using the app.
The biggest publicly-traded rival in the dating space is Match, which owns the dating apps Hinge, OKCupid, and match.com. Interestingly, Match tried to acquire Bumble unsuccessfully in 2018, and the two companies only recently settled a lawsuit on patent infringement. Investors looking to get into the dating space need to consider how Bumble looks up against Match, which Tickeron's A.I. does below.