Bumble's CEO isn't giving up on helping people make new friends

Bumble isn’t giving up on helping people find and make new friends.

In fact, it’s doubling down on Bumble For Friends (BFF) and gearing up to launch a new version of the app in August, the company announced during its second quarter earnings call.

Bumble’s CEO, Whitney Wolfe Herd, said the BFF app is “one of our most exciting long-term growth opportunities, especially as demand for friendship, real-world connection, and belonging continues to grow.”

The new version of the BFF app is built on Geneva, a community-focused social platform Bumble acquired in 2024, as well as Bumble’s safety infrastructure, Wolfe Herd said. She added that this version will combine “one-on-one matching and events, with community features to quickly follow, designed to help people build real friendships offline.”

Bumble acquired Geneva for about $17 million, according to an 8-K filing from July 2024.

Wolfe Herd said BFF is a “big priority” for Bumble Inc., which is primarily known for its dating app.

“I cannot tell you how excited and how convicted we are in this future,” she said. “The organic demand for Bumble For Friends, particularly from Gen Z women and younger millennial womenis extremely exciting.”

Friend-making apps have been having a moment, too. Startups like 222, Pieand Timeleft are trying to corner the in-real-life (IRL) market by setting people up with strangers or connecting them with communities in their city.

“We are a leading friendship app in the space, and frankly, we’re the only one in the dating space that has a friend finding feature at scale, so this gives us a real competitive edge,” Wolfe Herd said.

Meanwhile, Wolfe Herd got real about Gen Z on Bumble’s earnings call.

“I think there’s a bit of a misconception that Gen Z is some completely different species that doesn’t think about love and connection the same way most of humanity does,” she said.

But the qualms Gen Z feels toward dating apps (such as swiping fatigue, feeling judged, fears of rejection, or safety concerns) are “the same issues that everyone has struggled with online love,” Wolfe Herd added.

Getting Bumble back on track for ‘growth’

Bumble reported a 7.6% year-over-year decline in total revenue, with second-quarter revenue decreasing from $268.6 million in 2024 to $248.2 million in 2025. Total paying users declined 8.7% YoY, the company reported.

“Four months ago, I returned as CEO of Bumble and reset our strategy for quality over quantity across the whole business,” Wolfe Herd said. “We’ve taken decisive actions over the last quarter. We’ve removed over $100 million from our cost base by streamlining operations, restructuring headcount, and shifting to a more efficient organic marketing engine.”

Bumble in June announced plans to lay off 30% of its staff.

The company’s changes outlined during Wednesday’s earnings call are part of Wolfe Herd’s plan to position Bumble for “a return to growth.”

Bumble also announced the appointment of Kevin Cook as CFO, who was previously CFO at data software company Cloudera.

Meanwhile, Match Group, which owns Tinder and Hinge, reported earnings on Tuesdayshining a light on the latter app.

“Simply put, Hinge is crushing it,” Match Group CEO Spencer Rascoff said on the company’s earnings call. “Hinge’s success should put to rest any doubts about whether the online dating category is out of favor among users.”