A Brief History of Tinder
Posted: Thu Feb 13, 2025 10:18 am
Jonathan Badeen, Sean Rad, Joe Munoz, Justin Mateen, Chris Gylczynski, Dinesh Moorjani, and Whitney Wolfe founded Tinder. According to Rad, Tinder was founded on the theory that people can approach others in a pleasant way if they are convinced that they are interested in them.
The team initially developed the app at Hatch Labs and officially launched it in 2012. The british student data team tested and piloted its use on several college campuses. Tinder made its first acquisition in 2015 when it bought Tappy for an undisclosed amount. The company later acquired Humin in 2016. Tinder quickly evolved, processing over a billion swipes and generating 12 million matches daily by 2014. Tinder is the largest company in history to use the swipe feature.
Today, many apps have adopted the functionality. In 2015, Tinder launched new features such as the ability to undo or rewind a “swipe left” decision. The super-like functionality went live in 2016, followed by the boost feature, which artificially promotes a user’s profile to users nearby. According to then-Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Tinder was valued at $1.35 billion in July 2015. Today, the Los Angeles, California-based company employs over 1,000 people.
The team initially developed the app at Hatch Labs and officially launched it in 2012. The british student data team tested and piloted its use on several college campuses. Tinder made its first acquisition in 2015 when it bought Tappy for an undisclosed amount. The company later acquired Humin in 2016. Tinder quickly evolved, processing over a billion swipes and generating 12 million matches daily by 2014. Tinder is the largest company in history to use the swipe feature.
Today, many apps have adopted the functionality. In 2015, Tinder launched new features such as the ability to undo or rewind a “swipe left” decision. The super-like functionality went live in 2016, followed by the boost feature, which artificially promotes a user’s profile to users nearby. According to then-Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Tinder was valued at $1.35 billion in July 2015. Today, the Los Angeles, California-based company employs over 1,000 people.