Chinese Gaming Company Buys 60% Stake In Grindr

Grindr, the popular dating app for gay men, has sold a 60% stake to Chinese gaming company Beijing Kunlun Tech for $93 million, according to the New York Times. The $93 million investment now values the six-year-old dating app at $155 million. The remainder of the company’s shares continue to be owned by its employees and Grindr founder and CEO Joel Simkhai.

“For nearly seven years, Grindr has self-funded its growth, and in doing so, we have built the largest network for gay men in the world. We have taken this investment in our company to accelerate our growth, to allow us to expand our services for you, and to continue to ensure that we make Grindr the number one app and brand for our millions of users,” Simkhai wrote in a company blog post.

Simkhai added that despite the investment, “It will generally be business as usual for us here at Grindr, but with a renewed sense of purpose and additional resources to deliver a great product to you.”

Beijing Kunlun Tech’s investment allows it to expand into other global markets besides gaming. Grindr launched in 2009 and quickly grew to become one of the most popular dating apps for gay men. It currently has 2 million active daily users in 196 countries who spend an average of 54 minutes on the app daily.

Grindr had total revenue of $32 million in 2014, up 29% from the previous year. Before the investment from Beijing Kunlun, Grindr had not raised any capital from outside investors. It isn’t clear if the investment will bring the app to China, where the most popular gay dating app is Blued, with 2 million users.