Dating app Bumble bought for $1.3bn

Shares in dating app Bumble soared by almost 50% on Monday following reports it is in advanced takeover talks valuing the business at $1bn (£757m).

Ithaca Holdings, a technology investment firm, could announce a deal to buy the Texas-based company as early as this week, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The jump in Bumble's shares pushed its stock market valuation to over $580m but that is still far below a peak of more than $14bn it reached after listing on the Nasdaq in 2021.

Bumble is one of the world's most downloaded dating apps, operating in a crowded market where growth has slowed. The BBC has contacted Bumble and Ithaca for comment.

Bumble was launched in 2014 by Whitney Wolfe Herd, who was also a co-founder of dating app giant Tinder.

Wolfe Herd built Bumble's brand around a distinctive feature that only allowed women to initiate conversations with matches.

It recently abandoned that rule, prompting debate among users over whether the app had lost what set it apart from rivals.

"Today, our community is asking for more flexibility, less pressure, and more opportunities to create real, meaningful connections and that is what this new experience provides," Wolfe Herd said in August.

Dating apps like Bumble have come under pressure in recent years as some younger users have grown disillusioned with browsing for dates.

Bumble said in 2025 that it would cut almost a third of its workforce as the industry grappled with what Wolfe Herd described as an "inflection point" in online dating.

Investments in other dating companies have also soured as apps have struggled to convince users to pay for their services.

Match Group - which owns apps including Tinder, OkCupid and Hinge - has also seen its shares fall sharply from their peak in 2021.

According a report by media watchdog Ofcom in 2025, adults in the UK were spending less time on dating apps compared to three years earlier.