Bumble, the dating app which has focused on the experience of women on its platform, has filed with the SEC for an IPO which could value the company at more than $6bn. Bumble is just the latest dating app to have grown and matured into a substantial business, with revenues of $417m for the first nine months of last year.
As the chart above shows, it is no surprise that dating apps and platforms are becoming significant businesses when the majority of new couples are meeting online — according to data from the studies "How Couples Meet and Stay Together" from Stanford University.
Of heterosexual couples who met in 1995, roughly one-third met through friends, but by 2017 that number had fallen to just 20%, while almost 40% of couples met online. In same-sex couples, the number that met online is even higher at 65%.
Interestingly, meeting in a bar or restaurant was the only other medium that became a better matchmaker over the study period, with 27% of heterosexual couples meeting that way in 2017, up from 19% in 1995. Looking for love? Go to a bar and then go on a dating app while you're there.
