Grindr’s new majority stakeholder is a straight Chinese gaming billionaire

For some guys, Grindr can be a game of cat and mouse in the search for love or lust, so it may be fitting a majority stake of the gay dating app has been sold to a Chinese billionaire who is at the helm of a gaming company.

The popular gay dating app has been purchased by Beijing Kunlun Tech Co. for $93million US (£64m), after the Chinese company brokered a deal to obtain a 60% controlling stake in the company, The New York Times reports.

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Chairman of Kunlun, billionaire Yahui Zhou, said he was “very impressed by Grindr’s progress to date” and was “extremely excited about the future of the company”.

“We will continue to seek out and invest in high-quality technology companies led by top-tier management across the globe,” he said.

The purchase also marks the first time Grindr has received outside investment. The remaining shares will be held by founder Joel Simkhai and other employess.

In a statement, Kunlun said it had chosen to invest in Grindr to capitalise upon the app’s advertising strength, and for the platform itself.

“About 70-80 per cent of our business is in the international market,” they said.

“We built our name in gaming, so we are constantly seeking a popular international platform that will draw gaming traffic, and where we can advertise ourselves and increase our presence overseas. Grindr was a perfect match.

“It’s not so much that it’s a gay platform as that we see its huge potential to grow and be profitable.”

While Grindr founder and CEO Joel Simkhai said it would “generally be business as usual” the company would move forward with a “renewed sense of purpose and additional resources” to deliver to its customers.

“For nearly seven years, Grindr has self-funded its growth, and in doing so, we have built the largest network for gay men in the world,” he said.

“We have taken this investment in our company to accelerate our growth, to allow us to expand our services for you, and to continue to ensure that we make Grindr the number one app and brand for our millions of users.”

First released in 2009, Grindr now operates in 196 countries across the world with some two million users each day, who spend an average of 54 minutes on the app.

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