Bumble to expand to India with the help of actress | Money news

New York
CNN Enterprise
 — 

Bumble is the latest online courting app to compete for the hearts of girls in India.

Bumble, which requires girls to make the primary transfer, introduced Wednesday plans to launch in India later this yr. Indian celeb Priyanka Chopra, a new investor within the company, will advise on the enlargement.

The news comes much less than a week after rival Tinder launched a My Transfer function in India that offers girls the option to stop males from initiating a dialog.

However Bumble’s efforts for an enlargement in India have been within the works for awhile. Founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd stated the newly engaged Chopra first advised her “Indian women needed Bumble” months in the past. Chopra was amongst a group of high-profile girls who helped Bumble kickoff its networking app, Bumble Bizz, in October 2017.

“It was clear then we shared a passion for empowering young women on a global level,” Wolfe Herd advised CNN in an e-mail. “From there we began architecting a plan to partner and launch Bumble in India.”

Wolfe Herd stated the problem in coming into the Indian market is “localizing the experience and attracting women” — an space wherein Chopra will help.

Chopra’s supervisor, Anjula Acharia, can also be an investor and adviser. Acharia helped Chopra — who was already established in India — attain fame in the USA. However Acharia has a long historical past of crossover efforts. She was instrumental in introducing artists corresponding to Britney Spears and Woman Gaga to India — a background that might translate to Acharia serving to Bumble resonate with the native viewers.

Bumble’s native app shall be in each Hindi and Hinglish — a hybrid between Hindi and English — and out there on iOS and Android. It would additionally roll out new security options earlier than coming into the area, which has a status for violence towards girls. In June, India was named probably the most harmful nation within the world to be a lady.

Wolfe Herd stated it is going to solely require Indian girls to offer the primary initial of their identify — no first or final names — and supply new methods to report “bad behavior” within the app.

Bumble already has picture verification options and more than 4,000 content material moderators who review images and profiles.

Earlier than Bumble, Wolfe Herd was an early worker and exec at Tinder however left the company in 2014 after suing for sexual harassment and discrimination. The case was finally settled.

However pressure between the 2 courting corporations has turn into more and more palpable as a end result of very public litigation between the Bumble and Match Group, Tinder’s dad or mum company.

In March, Match Group focused Bumble with a lawsuit accusing the company of patent infringement and stealing trade secrets and techniques. Bumble requested the court docket final week to dismiss the case.

Individually, Bumble filed a counter lawsuit towards Match Group. Bumble argues that Match Group is utilizing litigation as revenge over failed acquisition talks. Each lawsuits are ongoing.

Whereas Bumble already operates in over 160 nations, India is a vital market as a result of of its dimension. Based on a report from Bain & Co, India has 390 million web customers, the second largest of any nation behind China.