Grindr buys a clinic, Singapore builds a dating app
Grindr pays $250 million to add HIV prevention care to its app
Grindr agreed on 30 September to buy PurposeMed, the Canadian company behind the Freddie telehealth service, for $250 million in cash and stock. The lesson for any niche platform: when users trust you, they will pay you for a second service that fits their lives. Freddie serves more than 55,000 patients in Canada and the US. Grindr plans to connect 10 million LGBTQ+ people to HIV prevention through its app by 2028. The deal should close in the fourth quarter. Freddie expects more than $80 million in revenue this year. That is more than most dating apps will ever earn, which is a good reason to buy it rather than build it.
A former Tinder executive launches an app where other people choose your matches
Rivet launched across the US on 24 September and lets anyone act as a matchmaker for other users. For a platform owner this is a cheap way to add a human touch: your own users do the matching for free. Founder Taru Kapoor spent almost ten years at Match Group and raised $10.5 million. When enough matchers approve a pair, both people see the suggestion and decide for themselves. Matchers can be married. Rivet has found the one group with more opinions about your love life than you: everyone else.
👉 Built for matchmakers? See Matchmaking Edition
How much of Tinder’s new code is written by AI?
More than 90%, according to Tinder’s chief technology officer Vinay Kuruvila, and a person still reviews every line. As a result, the team ships product twice as fast as a year ago. In an interview with Observer, Kuruvila described how AI now runs through Tinder’s work, from code to recommendations. Tinder also says it cut bots and bad actors by more than 60%. For a small platform the point is practical: building features with an AI coding agent is now normal at the largest dating company.
👉 Related: a dating platform built for AI coding agents
Feeld paid its founders a £3.8 million dividend as sales rose 32%
Feeld, the app for open-minded and non-monogamous dating, grew sales by 32% last year, The Guardian reports from its accounts. The point for niche owners: a clearly defined audience can be more profitable than a broad one. The founders took a £3.8 million dividend. Many mainstream apps are still waiting for their first profit. This niche app is already sharing one with its founders.
👉 Related: See Dating Pro plans and prices
Tinder now lets groups of three or more friends match with other groups
Tinder launched Group Hangouts in the US on 30 September. The reason is simple: many young users feel safer meeting new people with their friends around. In tests in Australia, almost 40% of group invites were accepted, and women were 2.2 times more likely to like a group profile than a single one. Tinder spent ten years teaching people to date alone on their phones. Now it asks them to bring their friends.
BLK opens in-person events in 29 US cities
BLK, Match Group’s app for Black singles, has rolled out its Events feature in 29 US cities after a pilot in Atlanta in August. Events give users what an app alone cannot: a place to meet. Users can find events nearby, book a place, invite friends and match with other guests before and after. “They want to meet people in person; they just don’t always know where to go,” said Corinne Harris of Match Group.
Do this week: pick one venue in the city where you have the most users and announce one meetup on your site. Count how many people sign up in seven days.
US Senate passes a law that makes dating apps warn users about banned scammers
The US Senate passed the Romance Scam Prevention Act (H.R. 2481) by unanimous consent in September, after the House passed it in June. If it becomes law, dating apps and sites must notify users who received messages from an account that was later banned for fraud. The Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general would enforce it. In the same weeks, the man known as the Tinder Swindler said he plans to launch a “safe” dating app.
How much do young Japanese pay a marriage agency instead of a free app?
Up to $1,300 to join, $30 to $100 a month, and another $1,300 on engagement, The New York Times reports. Many young singles in Japan choose to pay that rather than swipe for free. IBJ, the largest network of marriage agencies, grew membership by about half in five years, and its revenue rose 44% in the first half of the year. It now plays a role in about one in every 25 marriages in Japan.
👉 Built for matchmakers? See Matchmaking Edition
Hinge launches a waitlist and new safety tools in India
Hinge introduced its “Made for Love” approach in India on 1 October, with a waitlist for new members and a set of safety tools. In a market where many users fear harassment, safety is part of the product, not an extra. The tools include Face Check, protection against screenshots of profiles, a comment filter and a “Did this bother you?” prompt. “People are more open to connection when an experience feels safe and thoughtful,” said Ben Celebicic, Hinge’s chief product and technology officer.
Do this week: read the last 20 reports from your users and list what made them uncomfortable. Each line is a safety feature they have already asked for.
Scruff’s owner bought Growlr and switched off its most popular feature
Perry Street Software, which owns Scruff and Jack’d, bought Growlr, a dating app for gay bears, from ParshipMeet Group. Users are angry because the new owner removed live video streaming, the feature many of them used most. Perry Street promises a multi-million, multi-year rebuild and a new app in early 2027.
Do this week: before you remove any feature, check how many paying users opened it in the last 30 days. If the number is not small, tell them first.
👉 Related: rebuild your dating app with our team
Ditto, an AI dating app for students, passes 200,000 sign-ups
Ditto sends college students one match a week, chosen by AI, every Wednesday at 7 pm. More than 200,000 students on 20 to 25 US campuses have signed up, the Daily Trojan reports. Its strongest growth tool is a message that tells you someone has a crush on you. Ditto has raised $10.8 million so far. Tinder gives students unlimited choice. Ditto gives them one choice a week, and they wait for Wednesday.
Singapore’s government launches a dating service for its own staff
Singapore’s Government Technology Agency launched FirstDate, a pilot dating service for single public officers aged 21 to 35. The design is the opposite of a swipe app: each person gets one match at a time and has 72 hours to decide. The reason is national. Singapore’s birth rate fell to 0.87 children per woman in 2025. Matching uses the Gale-Shapley algorithm, a method that won a Nobel Prize, and the scheme will not match colleagues from the same agency. Applications closed on 5 October. “Swipe fatigue ends here,” says the FirstDate website. The government studied dating apps and decided the fix is fewer matches, a deadline, and no colleagues.
That’s the fortnight. See you in two weeks.
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