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Shares in dating app company Bumble soared by almost 50% on Monday after a report that it is in advanced talks to be bought for around $1bn (\u00a3757m).<\/b><\/p>\n
Technology holding company Ithaca could announce a deal to buy the Texas-based firm as early as this week, according to the Wall Street Journal.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Bumble was launched in 2014 by Whitney Wolfe Herd, who was also a co-founder of dating app giant Tinder.<\/p>\n Wolfe Herd built Bumble’s brand around a distinctive feature that only allowed women to initiate conversations with matches.<\/p>\n It recently abandoned that rule<\/a>, prompting debate among users over whether the app had lost what set it apart from rivals.<\/p>\n “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.<\/p>\n Dating apps like Bumble have come under pressure in recent years as some younger users have grown disillusioned with browsing for dates.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Investments in other dating companies have also soured as apps have struggled to convince users to pay for their services.<\/p>\n Match Group – which owns apps including Tinder, OkCupid and Hinge – has also seen its shares fall sharply from their peak in 2021.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Some single people are instead turning to board game get-togethers<\/a>, book clubs and other group activities in the hope of finding a partner.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n