Match Group, owner of some of the world’s largest dating services — Tinder, OkCupid, Match.com, and PlentyOfFish — just bought Hinge, the dating app that positions itself as a warmer, friendlier, less sleazy version of Tinder by letting users scroll through detailed profile pages instead of simply swiping left or right, Tinder’s trademark user experience.
In a press statement, Mandy Ginsberg, CEO of Match Group, said, “Hinge is highly relevant particularly among urban, educated millennial women looking for relationships,” but didn’t disclose how much the company paid to acquire the service. Match now owns a 51% stake in Hinge, with the option to buy the remaining shares over the next year.
On its website, Hinge brands itself as “thoughtful dating for thoughtful people.” Unlike Tinder, which finds potential matches around you through your phone’s location services, Hinge only connects you with people with whom you have at least one connection in common.
Match Group, worth $1.2 billion, faces tough competition from Facebook, the world’s largest social network with over 2 billion users. Last month, Facebook announced that it would roll out a dating feature later this year. Immediately after the announcement, Match Group stocks plummeted by 22% — the single biggest drop in the company’s history.