Former Tinder Employees Are Launching a Rival Dating App It's called Bumble, and it's being marketed as Tinder minus the creep factor.
By Laura Entis
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
This summer, the popular dating app Tinder was rocked by scandal when Whitney Wolfe, an early employee and its former vice president, sued the company on ugly charges of sexual harassment and sex discrimination.
Wolfe settled with the company in September for reportedly "just over $1 million." "She is proud of her role as a cofounder of Tinder and of the role she played in the app's success," one of her lawyers told BuzzFeed at the time. "She is now pleased to be able to focus her energy, talents, and ideas on exciting new opportunities."
One of those exciting new opportunities will see her take on Tinder outside of the courtroom. Along with two other former Tinder employees, Wolfe is launching a direct Tinder competitor, TechCrunch reports. Called Bumble, the company is positioning itself as Tinder, minus the sketch factor. In fact, the way Bumble describes itself on Facebook – "Other apps are full of creepy guys and cheesy pickup lines…but Bumble promotes a safe and respectful community," its description page on the social network reads –comes across as a direct dig at Tinder. (While incredibly popular, Tinder has become notorious for stuff like this).
Related: Tinder Co-Founder Sean Rad Out as CEO
Layout wise, Bumble looks a lot like Tinder, according to TechCrunch. However, it seems as if the app will incorporate more data points – users' professions, companies, colleges etc. – to make matches.
"Bumble suggests matches based on more relevant signals than other, more shallow apps," Bumble's Facebook description reads. "So stop wasting time finding tons of dead end matches on other apps and switch to Bumble."
Bumble will be available to download on Dec. 1.
Related: This Tinder-esque Dating App Allows Users to Swipe Right Based on a Potential Match's LinkedIn Bio
