They had me at “free drinks at The Boot”. Safe to say, they had everyone else too. Last Friday, the location-based social and dating app, Bumble, had most of campus swiping and all of the campus talking, thanks to their continuous on-campus marketing presence. In exchange for three swipes on the app, you could get a ticket for a free drink at The Boot. Genius, especially that they timed it during Happy Hour. Upon further research into the app, I realized it wasn’t just like Tinder, OkCupid, or whatever app you use to meet people (or run into awkward situations, take your pick!); Bumble is differentiating itself every day with a variety of social and business practices that promote feminism, individuality, and self-confidence.
“I want to reconfigure the way that we treat each other. That’s it. That’s the core of Bumble.”
-Whitney Wolfe Herd, CEO
First off, the app itself. Bumble has been called the “feminist dating app”, due to a unique feature that requires women to message men first. CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd stated that this feature aims to eradicate the “damsel in distress” attitude that makes women feel like they’re waiting around for a man. The goal is to change the standard from “wow, a girl made the first move” to “it’s normal for a girl to strike up the conversation”.
Second, let’s go back to Whitney Wolfe Herd: CEO and absolute power woman. Wolfe Herd is actually the co-founder of Tinder, so she knows a thing or two about the online dating business. After her resignation, she sued Tinder for sexual discrimination and harassment, settling for $1 million. Shortly after, Wolfe Herd partnered with Badoor CEO Andrey Andeev to launch Bumble; both were motivated by the idea of redefining a romantic culture of misogyny and toxic masculinity. It has been a profitable business since year two, now with over 40 million registered users seeing what all the buzz is about.
Wolfe Herd is taking the girl power mantra seriously through internal and external operations. The tech company has a workforce that is 85% female. Externally, Bumble Fund is confronting the disparity between venture capital funding and women-led startups. In 2017, startups led by women received only 2% of all venture capital funding. Bumble Fund is focusing on early-stage investments in businesses led by women of color and other underrepresented groups, specifically targeting the inequitable funding holding women back from a further degree of entrepreneurial success.
Currently, the company is actively pursuing an IPO, which would mean that the public could purchase stock in Bumble. If you’re hip to the market, I’d keep an eye out for this one, as this could open the business up to international action. As a business student, I’m admiring everything about Bumble’s business model. As a girl, I’m in awe of the incredible effort being made to redefine antiquated gender roles in the dating world. To put it simply, Bumble is doing the most. So what are you waiting for? Get swiping!