Bumble to go private in $1.3 billion Ithaca Holdings buyout
Bumble, the dating app where women make the first move, has agreed to a $1.3 billion buyout from Ithaca Holdings.
This means Bumble will go private, giving it more freedom to try new things without worrying about Wall Street watching its every move.
The deal comes as Bumble's user numbers and revenue have taken a hit lately, revenue dropped 15.2% year over year and paying users fell by 16.4% to approximately 3.2 million in Q2 2026.
Bumble plans AI and meetups
After going public in 2021 with a huge roughly $14 billion valuation, Bumble struggled to keep up its growth.
The decision to sell was pushed by an independent board committee (founder Whitney Wolfe Herd wasn't involved).
Now, the company says it wants to focus on fresh ideas: think AI-powered features and encouraging more real-life meetups for users.