What the business is
Dating and friendship app operator, running Bumble, Bumble BFF and the new Plans app
The bet
Low-pressure real-world group meetups are a bridge from meeting to socialising to dating, and an alternative to swiping for younger users
How it started
Bumble had first experimented with real-world, platonic connection through Bumble BFF, an app for making friends that has shown some traction with Gen Z women. It announced Plans the previous month.
What happened
Plans connects people in their community for small-group drinks and dinners at local spots, with the idea that these meetups could lead to friendships or romance. Users can continue chats on Bumble without swiping or sharing a phone number. On the Q2 call CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd said the company would lean more into real-life experiences and was building an interaction model of fewer, better, more considered signals to replace swiping, to roll out gradually.
What has to be true
Gen Z users had grown tired of traditional swipe-based online dating
Group socialising lets first meetings happen with less pressure than one-on-one dates
Bumble BFF had shown some traction with Gen Z women
Paying customers and revenue were declining, so Bumble needed a new growth route
What can be applied
Bumble is placing a group-meetup product beside its core app, while the swipe replacement stays secret and unproven during a revenue decline.
Aftermath
As of 2026-08-06 Plans had only early test results (no figures given), the swipe replacement was undisclosed, and Bumble's revenue was down 15.2% year over year with a forecast showing fewer paying customers.
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