Austin-based dating and networking app Bumble has had its unicorn distinction since 2017, when a Forbes article pegged the company's valuation at "well over $1 billion."
But with one of Bumble's main investors, Badoo founder Andrey Andreev, selling his stake in the business, it appears Bumble and its affiliates are now worth $3 billion, according to a report in TechCrunch.
The new valuation comes as Andreev sells his shares in MagicLab, which helps build and operate apps including Bumble, Badoo, Chappy and Lumen, to Blackstone, a New York-based private equity and investment firm.
With that, Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd, who is based in Austin, is becoming CEO of the entire company, and Blackstone is putting additional investment into the business.
“I will strive to lead the group with a continued values-based and mission-first focus, the same one that has been core to Bumble since I founded the company five years ago," Wolfe Herd said in a news release. "We will keep working towards our goal of recalibrating gender norms and empowering people to connect globally, and now at a much faster pace with our new partner.”
The shift in ownership comes at a time when Bumble continues to grow its user base and branch out beyond dating and professional networking to more sophisticated content and major commitments to invest in women founders.
Andreev, who is leaving the business altogether, founded MagicLab in 2006. He came under pressure in July this year after former employees told Forbes about tax avoidance practices and 13 former Badoo employees described their former employer as a toxic workplace, especially for women.
Given Bumble's position as a women-first business that seeks to create a safe network for women, the news led to an internal investigation. Now, months later, he is leaving he company, apparently on good terms.
"My aim now is to ensure a smooth and successful transition before I embark on a new business venture in search of innovative leaders with new and exciting ideas," he said in a statement. "
