Could Bumble's Latest Acquisition Help Attract Gen Z Users?

Dating app company Bumble Inc BMBL announced an acquisition Monday morning that could help grow its base of Gen Z users and international customers, something which could help boost the stock.

What Happened: Bumble announced it is acquiring Fruitz, a fast-growing dating app in Europe.

Fruitz, which launched in 2017, has seen strong growth in countries such as France, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland and Spain, according to the press release. Canada is also highlighted as a country with strong growth for Fruitz.

“The dating app is particularly popular with Gen Z, a growing segment of online dating consumers,” Bumble said.

Fruitz uses cherries, grapes, watermelons and peaches as “playful fruit metaphors” and encourages “open and honest communication of dating intentions,” which is why the dating app was created.

Deal terms were not disclosed.

Related Link: Apple App Store Analysis: Bumble Vs. Match Group's Tinder 

Why It’s Important: The acquisition of Fruitz is the first by Bumble and operates with a similar freemium model to Bumble’s namesake app and Badoo, another dating app owned by Bumble.

“By plugging Fruitz into our technology and data science platform, community support, brand and growth marketing, we can accelerate Fruitz’s growth,” Bumble founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd said.

Bumble said it will combine the Gen Z-focused product of Fruitz and take it to the next level with industry-leading machine learning, marketing and safety features.

International growth could also be achieved with the acquisition according to Bumble.

“Badoo and Bumble are two of the most popular global dating apps. The acquisition of Fruitz allows us to expand our product offerings in line with our focus on empowering relationships with everyone,” Wolfe Herd said.

Badoo has a significant presence in Europe and Bumble will now have two of the leading and fastest-growing dating apps in the region.

TechCrunch reported that Fruiz has been downloaded 5.6 million times on the Google Play app store and is ranked number four on the iPhone iOS top free apps in the lifestyle category for France, one of its largest markets.

Bumble’s app was named the “2021 Trend of the Year” in the Apple Inc AAPL iOS app store. The app trails rival Tinder, owned by Match Group Inc MTCH on rankings for downloads with Tinder around 100 spots ahead of Bumble.

Bumble reported third-quarter revenue of $200.5 million in November, up 24% year-over-year. The company reported a 3% decline year-over-year for the Badoo app and other revenue, which could make the Fruitz acquisition and international growth that much more important.

Price Action: BMBL shares are down 0.18% to $27.61 on Monday. Shares have traded between $25.90 and $84.80 since going public in February 2021 at a price of $43 per share.

Photo: Courtesy Bumble