Bumble Explores Sale Amid Slowing Growth, Industry Pressures: Report
Bumble is exploring a potential sale with Morgan Stanley as adviser while grappling with slowing user growth, declining revenue and intensifying competition in the online dating market.
SociapaHQ
Online dating platform Bumble is exploring a potential sale as it faces slowing growth and mounting challenges in the online dating industry.
According to reports, the Austin, Texas-based company is working with an investment bank Morgan Stanley to consider strategic options including a potential sale, but no deal is assured and discussions are confidential.
The report said Bumble could also decide to stay independent after evaluating interest from potential buyers. The company did not comment on the report. Morgan Stanley and Blackstone, Bumble’s largest shareholder with an estimated 22% stake, also declined to comment.
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Growth Challenges:
The strategic review comes on the heels of a sharp deterioration in Bumble’s market performance. The company’s stock has dropped nearly 48% in the last year, which has slashed its market cap to about $388 million, a far cry from the valuation of the company after it went public.
Bumble has also encountered operational headwinds. The company also said it saw paying users fall 11% in 2025, to about 3.7 million subscribers, while annual revenue was down nearly 10% to around $966 million.
The slowdown continued in the first quarter of 2026, when paying users fell about 20% year on year after Bumble purged low-engagement accounts from the platform.
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Founded in 2014 by Whitney Wolfe Herd, a co-founder of Tinder, Bumble set itself apart with a women-first approach that puts women in charge of making the first move. Wolfe Herd, who resigned as Chief Executive Officer in 2023, rejoined the company in March 2025 to help revive growth.
Initiatives such as higher subscription prices and better monetisation strategies have not been enough to help Bumble fight off pressure from shifting consumer behaviours, greater competition and lower engagement with dating apps, especially among younger users. Industry rival Match Group has faced similar problems but has fared comparatively better in the market.
