Bumble partners with popular French matchmaking app Fruitz in its first-ever acquisition.
The Austin-based dating app, founded by Tinder co-founder Whitney Wolfe Herd, announced the tie-up on Monday. Terms were not disclosed.
Fruitz, which was launched in 2017, has seen its popularity grow among Gen Z users in Europe and North America. It has spread to Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain and Canada.
Wolfe Herd, CEO of Bumble, credited Fruitz for its “dynamic, brilliant leaders who built a unique product that struck a powerful chord with consumers in France and across Europe.”
“By connecting Fruitz to our technology and data science platform, community support, brand and growth marketing, we can accelerate Fruitz’s growth,” she said.
The application is structured in such a way that users first specify their preferences for the type of relationship they wish to find.
There is the “watermelon” option where app users express their desire for a “friend with benefits”.
Those who decide they are a “cherry” want a serious, long-term relationship with a mate. A “grape” simply indicates that the user wants to meet someone for a drink.
Finally, one can choose to be a “peach”, which means that one is only interested in kisses.
Julian Kabab, the CEO of Fruitz, said he came up with the concept after some unpleasant experiences in the dating scene.
“The idea for Fruitz came from my very first experience with dating apps which was a disaster,” he said.
“Simply put, the lovely person I met had a very different intention than mine. Expressing what one is looking for is not easy because one is afraid of being judged.
“As a result, no one was being honest with their intentions and everyone was wasting their time.”
Bumble was founded by Wolfe Herd in 2014. She came up with the idea for a dating app where women have the final say after she accused a male colleague of sexually harassing her while she was working as an executive for Tinder.
Shares of Bumble, which also owns dating app Badoo, were trending higher Monday in the pre-market hours. The company has a market capitalization of $3.57 billion.
New York Post
