New App Builds Upon Success of its Popular Bumble BFF Mode

Today, Bumble Inc. (NASDAQ: BMBL), the parent company of Bumble, Badoo, Fruitz and Official, announced the launch of Bumble For Friends, a standalone app for finding friends. The app creates a new way for people to grow their friendship circles by discovering meaningful, kind, and fun connections in their local area that is separate from the Bumble dating app.

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Bumble For Friends models a similar experience as Bumble Date where members see profiles for potential friends based on common interests, swipe right on profiles they would like to connect with and are notified when a match is made. (Graphic: Business Wire)

The new app follows the successful BFF mode that’s been available within the Bumble app since 2016, which features three modes for: romantic relationships (Date), platonic friendships (BFF), and business connections (Bizz).

“Friendship has always been a critical part of Bumble’s goal to living a healthy and happy life. With feelings of loneliness and isolation at an all-time high, now more than ever is a time to prioritize self-love and friendships for our well being. Having a dedicated Bumble For Friends app that’s separate from the dating experience makes friendship-finding easier for people looking to make meaningful platonic connections in their area,” said Whitney Wolfe Herd, Bumble’s founder and CEO.

“People are more open to making friends online than ever before. In fact, in a recent Bumble For Friends survey, 67% of Gen-Z respondents shared that making new friends online lessened their loneliness,” Herd said. “No matter your life stage - whether it’s moving off to college, looking for a travel partner or becoming a new mom - Bumble For Friends creates a fun way to connect with people while helping solve the extremely important issue of loneliness.”

How Bumble For Friends works

• It starts with creating a profile that reflects the member’s personality and interests through uploading photos and showcasing hobbies that illustrate where the person is in their life and what kind of friends they’re looking to meet.
• Bumble For Friends models a similar experience as Bumble Date where members see profiles for potential friends based on common interests, swipe right on profiles they would like to connect with and are notified when a match is made.
• Anyone currently using BFF mode with the Bumble app who wishes to migrate their profile and connections into the Bumble For Friends app will be able to skip the set-up and easily do so upon downloading and logging into the new app as an existing member.
• Once a BFF profile is moved over to the Bumble For Friends app, BFF mode is no longer available in the Bumble app. The Date and Bizz functionalities remain.

A new, easier way to plan group meetups exclusively available in the Bumble For Friends app

• Starting to roll out today within the new Bumble For Friends app, it’s easy to get a group together to make a plan to meet IRL.
• Any member can create a plan for a group meetup with at least two of their matches from the conversations tab.
• A member selects a planned activity from a list of suggestions or creates their own.
• Once a member selects a plan theme or creates a title for the group chat, they can invite at least two of their matches.
• Their matches receive an invite in their chat that is titled the name of the planned activity, which can be edited.
• Anyone who accepts the invite can join the group chat and start discussing any of the meetup details.

Bumble For Friends is free to use and is available on the App Store and Google Play in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the Philippines, the United Kingdom, and the United States with more regions to come.

All research was commissioned by Bumble in February 2023 amongst a sample of more than 1,000 U.S. adults 18+.

ABOUT BUMBLE INC.

Bumble Inc. is the parent company of Bumble, Badoo, Fruitz and Official. The Bumble platform enables people to build healthy and equitable relationships, through Kind Connections. Founded by CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd in 2014, Bumble was one of the first dating apps built with women at the center and connects people across dating (Bumble Date), friendship (Bumble For Friends) and professional networking (Bumble Bizz). Badoo, which was founded in 2006, is one of the pioneers of web and mobile dating products. Fruitz, founded in 2017, encourages open and honest communication of dating intentions through playful fruit metaphors. Official is an app for couples that promotes open and honest communication between partners and was founded in 2020.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230726935186/en/

"Having a dedicated Bumble For Friends app that’s separate from the dating experience makes friendship-finding easier for people looking to make meaningful platonic connections in their area," said Whitney Wolfe Herd, Bumble’s founder and CEO.