Dating App Bumble Jumps in Trading Debut After $2.15 Billion IPO

(Bloomberg) -- Bumble Inc., the dating app where only women can make the first move, climbed more than 85% in its trading debut after its initial public offering was expanded to raise $2.15 billion.

The company’s shares opened trading at $76 in New York Thursday. The stock was up 80% from the IPO price at 12:46 p.m. to $77.12.

Bumble sold 50 million shares for $43 each Wednesday after marketing 45 million shares for $37 to $39 apiece. That target had been raised earlier from 34.5 million shares at $28 to $30.

Private equity firm the Blackstone Group Inc. took a majority stake in Bumble’s parent company in 2019, in a transaction that valued it at $3 billion.

The Bumble app was started in 2014 by Chief Executive Officer Whitney Wolfe Herd, who previously co-founded the dating app Tinder. At 31, Wolfe Herd is the youngest woman to take a large company public in the U.S. as CEO.

Read more: Bumble’s 31-Year-Old CEO Becomes a Rare Female Billionaire

In a letter to investors, Wolfe Herd said women making the first move is a “powerful shift.”

“Archaic gender dynamics and old-fashioned traditions still ruled the dating world,” she said. “This led to all sorts of unhealthy dynamics that ultimately disempowered women and created unnecessary pressure for men.”

For the nine months ended Sept. 30, Austin, Texas-based Bumble had a pro forma net loss of $28 million attributable to owners and shareholders on revenue of $413 million, according to its filings.

The offering was led by Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Citigroup Inc., Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co. Bumble’s shares are trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol BMBL.

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