(Reuters) – The participation of Bumble Inc. CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd in the women-centered dating app operator was worth nearly $ 2 billion, as the shares met for the second day in a row after ‘a box office debut on Thursday.
Bumble, backed by Blackstone Group Inc., was valued at $ 15.69 million on Friday, with a share price nearly double the initial public offering price of $ 43 per share, underscoring the company’s insatiable appetite. investor in technology stocks in a strong US equity market.
Wolfe Herd owns 21.5 million shares in Bumble, which equates to a 11.6% stake, according to regulatory statements.
With the big IPO, Wolfe Herd, 31, became the youngest woman to ever make a company public while ringing in the Bumble offices in Austin with her one-year-old son in her side.
Women’s first approach has differentiated Bumble into a competitive online dating market, Wolfe Herd told Reuters on Thursday.
Bumble users are more likely to pay for premium deals to have a deeper connection level or a different approach to the connection, said Wolfe Herd, who points out that incognito mode is a popular feature for people to browse other people’s profile while anonymous.
Wolfe Herd, who graduated in International Studies from Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences at Southern Methodist University, launched the Bumble app in 2014.
Wolfe Herd is also a co-founder of rival app Tinder, which she later sued alleging that her co-founders subjected her to sexual harassment. Match Group Inc., the father of Tinder, which denied the allegations, paid about $ 1 million to resolve the dispute.
Bumble shares rose 13.5% in Friday afternoon trading, after rising to 20.6% to $ 84.8 prior to the session.
Reports by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru and Krystal Hu in New York; Edition by Anil D’Silva