Details About Grindr’s Billion Dollar Chinese Buyers Emerge
Following the huge news that 60% of Grindr has been bought by a little-known Chinese gaming firm, more details about the buyers have come to light.
The business is called Beijing Kunlun Tech, a tech company that was founded in 2008, one that isn’t described as being a “household” name in China.
The company was founded by Zhou Yahui, and produces “free-to-play, browser-based MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing games)”, like Eden Eternal and Glory Destiny Online, according to qz.com.
Speaking about their decision to buy 60% of Grindr, Kunlun said: “About 70-80 per cent of our business is in the international market.
“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.”
The statement makes reference to Grindr’s advertising platform, which last year Grindr CEO & founder Joel Simkhai said accounted for 25% of the hookup app’s revenue.
This week, the game developer company announced that it will acquire 60% of the Los Angeles-based app for $93m (£64m), valuing the company at $155m.
The deal was announced by the firm in a filing to the Shenzhen stock exchange.
After the deal went through, Simkhai called the decision “a huge vote of confidence in our vision to connect gay men to even more of the world around them.”
Kunlun chairman, Zhou Yahui, said: “We have been very impressed by Grindr’s progress to date and are 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.”
Speaking about the deal, the COO of Grindr Carter McJunkin told the New York Times: “We have users in every country in the world, but in order to get to the next phase of our business and grow faster, we needed a partner.”
The remaining 40% of the company will continue to be owned by Grindr employees and Simkhai, who created the app back in 2009.
Grindr’s management said that one of the main reasons they accepted the deal was that Kunlun would let Grindr’s current executive team stay on to lead and grow the app.
The gay dating and social networking app is now used in 196 countries, and is visited by two million people every day, who spend an average of 54 minutes on the app.
Last Sunday, Grindr live-streamed celebrated fashion designer J.W. Anderson’s fall show at London men’s fashion week, part of its strategy to become more of a “lifestyle brand”, shown in its hiring of renowned fashion firm PR Consultancy to handle its public relations.
