Investment firm Ithaca Holdings is acquiring dating app Bumble for $1.3 billion, with co-founders Ravi Gupta and John Hegeman taking over as co-chief executives. Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd will remain "actively involved" with the company she launched 12 years ago, though her specific role remains unclear.
Gupta and Hegeman framed the acquisition as "a bet on the future of humanity," stating that technology should serve human connection. They plan to use AI to "renew and accelerate" the business in what they described as an AI-transformed world.
The deal marks a dramatic reversal in Bumble's fortunes. The company peaked at a $14 billion valuation after its 2021 Nasdaq listing but has struggled as a public company. Its stock price surged on acquisition news, lifting current valuation to over $580 million, yet Bumble has posted steep annual losses in 2024 and 2025 after achieving pre-tax profit only once, in 2023.
Bumble built its brand on a distinctive feature: only women could initiate conversations with matches. The company abandoned this rule in August, citing user demand for "more flexibility, less pressure" and "more opportunities to create real, meaningful connections." The pivot sparked debate among users about whether Bumble had lost its competitive edge.
The company has incorporated AI into its platform, including profile-creation guidance tools. In 2024, then-chief executive Lidiane Jones told the BBC that AI offered "exciting potential" for safety features and that research showed Gen Z and millennials wanted AI assistance building dating profiles.
Bumble announced workforce cuts of nearly one-third in 2025, with Wolfe Herd describing the move as a response to an "inflection point" in online dating. The dating app sector faces broader headwinds. Match Group, which owns Tinder, OkCupid and Hinge, has also seen sharp stock declines from 2021 peaks. According to Ofcom research published in 2025, UK adults are spending less time on dating apps than three years earlier, with some singles turning instead to board games, book clubs and group activities to meet potential partners.