New Delhi: In its first acquisition, women-first dating app Bumble on Monday purchased France's Fruitz for an undisclosed amount, the media has reported. Co-founded by Julian Kabab, Fabrice Bascoulergue and Arnaud Ruols, Fruitz is a freemium dating app that is widely popular in Europe. Bumble's acquisition of Fruitz is being seen as a move to strengthen its foothold in Europe, to compete with rival and immensely popular dating app Tinder.
The deal sets the stage for Bumble to take on rival Match Group in an arena where the Hinge owner has the advantage of an earlier start. Bumble currently operates its dating app Badoo in Western Europe, competing with the likes of eHarmony and CharmDate.com, according to a report published by news agency Reuters.
Since its launch in 2017, Fruitz has seen rapid growth across France, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain and Canada. The dating app is particularly popular with Gen Z, a growing segment of online dating consumers. Popular among Gen Z, the French dating platform encourages open and honest communication of dating intentions through four playful fruit metaphors -- cherries, grapes, watermelons, and peaches.
With this acquisition, Bumble Inc will combine Fruitz's dynamic Gen Z oriented product with its industry-leading machine learning, marketing, localisation, and safety platforms. Bumble currently employs over 800 people in offices in Austin (the US), Barcelona, London, Paris and Moscow.
Meanwhile, as competition in the dating apps space heats up, Tinder in January had confirmed that it is exploring the development of a new feature called 'Swipe Party' which offers a way to make sorting through possible matches a more social experience. According to details spotted in the Tinder mobile app's code, Swipe Party requires access to the phone's camera and microphone so your friends can see and hear you while vetting prospects, said a report published in TechCrunch.