Whitney Wolfe Herd – Chief Executive Officer and founder of Bumble – has built a billion-dollar business: this week past, Bumble has raised a $2.2 billion initial public offering [IPO] after Herd took the company public. Herd – who is one of less than 20 females in history to have founded and led a company through to an IPO – received over 33,000 likes on LinkedIn and nearly 14,000 likes on Instagram after posting about Bumble’s massive achievement:
On LinkedIn, Herd Writes: “We believe that when women are empowered, everyone wins. But throughout the journey of building Bumble, we were told that women don’t, won’t, and shouldn’t speak first. That it would never work. This week, Bumble became a publicly traded company. Six years and countless weddings, babies, friendships, business partners, and meaningful relationships later, we’ve celebrated 1.7 billion first moves made by women on our app. Thank you to these brave first movers who made this milestone possible — and to the pioneering women who came before us and paved the way in the business world. With your support, we’ll keep working to make relationships healthier and more equitable for all”.
Frustrated with inequitable gender norms surrounding dating, Herd founded Bumble as a platform to empower women – not men – to make the first move. The dating app’s success is a powerful indicator of the importance of female empowerment both on and off-line. Moreover, it’s success reflects the shift in practicalities and attitudes towards dating that many have experienced due to restrictions brought on by Covid-19: Virtual – not physical – connections have become the new reality, which puts Bumble at the forefront of two important trends that have emerged in 2021.