Tech Talent Tuesday- Whitney Wolfe Herd

Whitney Wolfe Herd is the founder and CEO of Bumble, an app that started off as a dating app but which has evolved to become so much more. Bumble positions itself as more than an app, and instead positions itself as a movement and a place where people can go to establish and maintain healthier connections. Their mission statement is "to create a world where all relationships are healthy and equitable". 

Bumble was co-founded in 2014 by Whitney, two years after she resigned as Vice President of Marketing at Tinder which she helped co-found in 2012. The departure from Tinder was acrimonious with Wolfe-Herd suing for sexual harassment and discrimination. Bumble is now one of the worlds most popular dating apps and has increased its market share each year since it was founded. It has the second largest market share at 22% whilst Tinder remains the largest at 32%. 

Wolfe Herd used her background in tech, her prior experience gained at Tinder, and her passion for equality as the building blocks and motivation for founding Bumble. There was a gap in the dating market for a forward thinking, female first dating app that would challenge societal norms of women “waiting” to be asked out on a date, and instead empower women to make the first move and send that initial message.

The app has over thirteen million monthly active users across the world, with 1.35 million paid users as of the end of 2021.  Since Bumble was founded, it has evolved to be much than just a dating app, now offering Bumble BFF and Bumble Bizz it has allowed people to form friendships and build their professional networks as well as meet potential love matches.

Wolfe Herd became the youngest woman to take a company public in the US in February 2021 when Bumble went public on the NASDAQ. The next day Bumble shares were trading at $76, and its value skyrocketed to $13 billion thrusting Wolfe-Herd herself into billionaire status at the age of 31.

Whitney is one of the world’s most successful tech entrepreneurs and has inspired women globally. The CEO rang the bell in 2021, with her one-year-old son on her hip, showing the world that women can be both a hugely successful businesswoman and a mother.

Bumble is continuing to go from strength to strength; its paid customer base has increased by 18.45% in the last quarter and with 18% grow expected for 2022 the future is bright for the feminist dating app. To stay up to date with Bumble follow them now here.

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