Grindr, the hugely popular mobile hook-up site have announced that they have sold a majority stake in their company to Chinese gaming company Beijing Kunlun Tech company, reports Business Insider. The deal, valued at $155 million, is the second announcement this week of a Chinese company taking over a recognizable American brand with Dalian Wang’s announcement yesterday that they had purchased a majority stake in Legend Productions, producers of the “Dark Knight” franchise.
According to the report, “The company has grown healthily over the last few years with revenues rising to $31.8 million (£22 million) in 2014, up from $15.8 million (£11 million) in 2012, with estimated revenues of $38.1 million (£26 million) in 2015. (The slide deck was prepared in June 2015.) By the end of 2018, it predicted annual revenues of as much as $77 million (£53 million) — more than twice that of 2014.”
With over 10.5 million users globally, Grindr boasts some of the highest daily times its users spend on the site. According to internal memos, the average daily user spends approximately 54 minutes while Facebook users spend roughly 42 minutes a day, Tumblr users spend about 34 minutes a day and Instagram users spend nearly 21 minutes. Tinder, an app which features many of the same functionalities as Grindr but with heterosexuals included, came in at just under 15 minutes a day.
The remainder of the company will remain in CEO Joel Simkhai’s hand along with employees who hold equity in the company. “We have users in every country in the world, but in order to get to the next phase of our business and grow faster, we needed a partner,” explains Simkhai.
The app hopes to evolve into more of a lifestyle destination in the coming years with growth expected to reach $77 million by the end of 2018.
