Bumble, a dating app that forces women to make the first move, reportedly turned down a $450 million acquisition offer

Advertisement

Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe

Whitney Wolfe

Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe.

Bumble turned down an acquisition offer from Match Group, the owner of Tinder, OKCupid, and Match.com.

Advertisement

According to a report from Forbes' Clare O'Connor, Match offered $450 million for the 3-year-old startup about two months ago. Bumble rejected the offer.

Bumble was founded by Whitney Wolfe, a cofounder of Tinder who left in 2012 and filed a sexual harassment suit against the company. Wolfe later settled out of court.

Forbes points out that because Wolfe previously filed suit against not only Tinder, but Match.com and IAC as well, she would have been working for the same company she sued had Bumble accepted the buyout.

Bumble differentiates itself from other dating apps by having a focus on women. While it has a similar swiping format as Tinder, women are forced to make the first move. They have 24 hours to message a match, otherwise the match disappears.

Advertisement

Wolfe cofounded Bumble with Andrey Andreev, the cofounder of dating website Badoo. According to TechCrunch, Badoo is the majority owner of Bumble. Bumble's current valuation is unknown.

Bumble declined to comment on the report.