Steve Schwarzman, CEO of global investment firm Blackstone Group, likes Bumble ($PRIVATE:BUMBLE). Like, a lot. 

Schwarzman's investment firm reportedly backed the dating app in a deal valued at $3 billion, according to a Wall Street Journal story Friday, November 8, the latest sign that apps are being embraced by a broader set of investors - despite the very notable flops of some of 2019's biggest IPOs. 

Let's check out what made Steve swipe right: 

For one thing, Bumble is scaling up in a big way. Our first chart tracks LinkedIn ($MSFT) Employee Headcount, derived from taking each company's social page and measuring the number of staffers that affiliate with a brand over a given period of time. For Bumble, it's shooting up, tripling in size since 2018 began. 

Bumble was founded by entrepreneur Whitney Wolfe Herd in 2014 after she split from competitor Tinder. The differentiator was simple - Bumble is premised on women making the first move, and reaching out to potential partners. 

It's not just Schwarzman who's such a big fan of Wolfe Herd's app. In the Apple Store, Bumble has built ratings consistently over time - a likely signal of continued organic user acquisition - rising 51% over 2019 alone. And (not shown) they're also satisfied with the product - the Apple Store average rating has been above 4-out-of-5 for a while, and currently clocks in at 4.2. Competitors like Tinder may have (slightly) more scale in the Apple Store, but with new financial backing and a competitive model, Wolfe Herd's second act is a smashing success so far. 

About the Data: 

Thinknum tracks companies using the information they post online - jobs, social and web traffic, product sales and app ratings - and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales. 

Further Reading: 

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