If you were anywhere near Wall Street in New York yesterday you may have been shocked to see a bevy of Drag Race Queens performing on a stage outside the Stock Exchange It was to celebrate GRINDR’s market debut following a merger with blank-check company Tiga Acquisition. We don’t have a Business Correspondent here in Queerguru (yet) so we have no idea who Tiga is BUT they must be a better bet for the future of the gay dating app than when a (mysterious ) Chinese Conglomerate owned it up to 2020.
The good news for Grindr shareholders is that the value of the shares more than doubled in value on their first day of trading. Even with the app’s very mixed reputation known as more for hookups than actual dating, its fortune looks much rosier than ‘straight’ apps like MATCH which has seen its value plummet some 65% since the beginning of the year.
It was a great start for Grindr CEO George Arison, who has only been on the job for a month, but wherever the App can adjust to a growing market ……. and dare we say ….. a very picky queer community, is yet to be seen.
Meanwhile elsewhere Joel Simkhai one of Grindr’s original founders thinks his brand new App may actually have the way forward. Its been 5 years since he left, and he has just launched MOTTO which he says has innovative features to help prevent the “toxicity” and “discrimination” that have cast shadows over other gay dating apps, including the one he spearheaded, amid a barrage of controversies for the better part of the last decade..
Simkhai and Motto co-founder Alex Hostetler have just gone live with the app in NY and Miami to start with. They intend Motto to be a new sex-positive matchmaking app for gay and queer hookups and casual dating. It will focus on finding you the right people, not just the closest – on the quality of interactions, not the quantity. It also employs a vetting process to ensure people are who they say they are and that everyone will finally have a face pic!
In an interview with Bear World Magazine Simkhai said Grindr definitely revolutionized queer culture, but I’ll be the first to admit, it also brought about unintended consequences. We are building Motto to address many of the pain points plaguing current app users in the following ways:
By focusing on quality and curation- We are a free membership-based app, and the only hookup or gay app with an approval process. Every single profile and photo goes through a review process, which means we have a curated network unlike any other app. Headless torsos, catfish, bots, and scams might work for other apps, but we’re eliminating them.
Motto will also save users time and energy. Instead of endlessly scrolling through thousands of profiles, you review a batch of 5-10 curated profiles each day. Just message who you’re interested in, then chat and meetup – no more endless scrolling. Every profile is required to have three verified face photos and other important info, so you don’t have to ask for it.
And finally, the app will create a space for people to be clear about their intentions and curiosities. Whether you are looking for hookups, dates, groups, or want to explore a kink, we’ve made space for that.
P.s. In the first half of 2022 GRINDR saw $90 million in revenue, which shows a 42% growth compared with the same period a year ago. Great profit for them BUT is it good value for its ‘member/subscribers”?
Labels: 2022, gay dating app, Grindr, joel simkhat, Motto
