Bumble makes its first purchase — French dating app Fruitz — to win over Gen Z’ers in Europe

Honey & Berries… a match made in swipe heaven. Yesterday, Bumble made its first-ever acquisition with quirky five-year-old French dating app Fruitz. ICYMI, Bumble is the popular dating app where women make the first move. Bumble’s already in some European countries, but the US and Latin America still make up more than half its users. Meanwhile, Bumble’s other dating app, Badoo, has more than 300M users worldwide. With Fruitz, Bumble is doubling down on its Euro reach.

• Cherry-picking: Users are shown profiles based on which fruit icon they pick. Each fruit = a relationship type (think: watermelon for friends with benefits, cherry for long-term commitment).
• Choose your perks: Like most dating apps, Fruitz is free but offers premium paid features. For example: The “pollen” add-on shows profiles closest to you.
• Bumble’s sales jumped 24% last quarter to 200M thanks to extra paid users.

Financial stability > ship stability… The pandemic has influenced younger generations to value financial stability over serious relationships. Only 1 in 10 Gen Zers says they’re “committed to being committed.” Millennials still make up the majority of app users, but in saturated markets like the US, new growth has been hard to come by. Now:

• Last quarter Bumble saw its first user-growth decline since going public, as swipe madness cooled in the US.
• Bumble can leverage Fruitz’s ability to reach Gen Z where it’s seeing “rapid growth” in less saturated countries like in Belgium, France, Spain, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.