Grindr to delve into dating as more users seek long-term relationships

livemint.com:

Grindr, a dating app best known for facilitating hookups between gay men, wants to get more into dating. The company is planning to add several new features to its app aimed at helping its users, who are primarily gay and bisexual men, match up with others with the same intentions, from short-term sexual encounters to long-term relationships. The additions include using AI to identify users with shared interests.

The move comes as the broader landscape for online dating faces challenges, with slower growth and a decline in the number of paying subscribers as more users have grown tired of dating apps and question their ability to lead to serious connections. Match Group, owner of dating apps Tinder and Hinge, has posted six consecutive quarters of declines in paying users, while Bumble, another player in the space, has struggled to get users to pay for more premium subscriptions. Grindr serves a different market than most dating apps, with a focus on same-sex relationships and casual dating, whereas others are built around the idea of finding a long-term partner and primarily fostering connections between men and women.

“We are in a unique position to support the dating experience," said Chief Executive George Arison. “We have all the users. We just need to build the features that make the dating experience a lot better." It has been adding users and growing revenue, helping it outperform others in the space.

Grindr shares are up 17% this year, while Match is down 17% and Bumble has lost nearly a third of its value. On Wednesday, ahead of its first investor day, Grindr raised its revenue outlook for the year to at least 25% growth from at least 23% growth. It also forecast between 20% and 25% annual revenue growth