Almost seven years ago, Joel Simkhai launched Grindr as the go-to digital space for gay men to chat and use for in-person meetings. Grindr easily grew over the years and still stands as the best platform for gay men to interact online. It draws around 2 million users daily — they're averaging 54 minutes of time on the app — and allowed the company to generate a $25 million in 2013 and $32 million in 2014. Figures for 2015 aren't available at this time, but Grindr's track record is strong enough to assume growth was experienced.
Needing to grow and evolve its business further, Grindr has sold a majority stake to a gaming company based in China.
Beijing Kunlun Tech Company is spending an unspecified amount of money — likely in the ballpark of $100 million — to capture 60% ownership of Grindr. The deal values Grindr at $155 million and Grindr never sought to raise money from outside investors prior to this.
Carter McJunkin, Grindr COO, said selling the majority stake was important to “get to the next phase of our business and faster.”
Many expected InterActiveCorp's dating-focused spinoff, Match Group, to swoop in and purchase Grindr to get a piece of the gay market. Either Match Group is working on a service targeted at gay men on their own or Beijing Kunlun made a better offer.
Beijing Kunlun Chairman Yahui Zhou is happy to use Grindr as its first step into the world of lifestyle services:
“We have been very impressed by Grindr's progress to date and are extremely excited about the future of the company. We will continue to seek out and invest in high-quality technology companies led by top-tier management across the globe.”
The in-house structure of Grindr won't be changing, though, as Beijing Kunlun is allowing the company's core to remain intact. That means, at the very least, Simkhai will keep his job as chief executive officer while McJunkin stays chief operating officer.
If you missed it, or you want more, a taste of the @JW_ANDERSON + @Grindr livestream… #0feetaway from creativity pic.twitter.com/TWfKUTPHxd
— Grindr (@Grindr) January 10, 2016
Assuming Match Group has something on the way for gay men to try out, Grindr has to introduce new features. The company lacks a web component and only exists on very dated-looking and restricted mobile apps. Just recently, Grindr tried something new by hosting a fashion show streamed to its users for free; however, those users are still waiting to get basic features like multi-device syncing. The presence of Beijing Kunlun will, without question, help Grindr as long as they do things quickly and effectively. Otherwise, the two million gay men using Grindr will have to look elsewhere in 2016.
Via: The New York Times
