Grindr has named George Arison as their new CEO, in preparation for the platform to go public. The appointment fulfils a pledge made by Grindr to appoint someone who identifies as openly gay to lead the company as it prepares to go public.
Arison, 44, is the co-founder and former CEO of auto e-commerce marketplace Shift Technologies Inc. He will start at Grindr on Oct. 19 and shepherd the company through the process of listing on the stock market through a special purpose acquisition company later this fall.
Grindr also named Vanna Krantz as its new Chief Financial Officer. Krantz is the current CFO of transportation and payments company Passport Labs Inc., and she previously served in that role at Disney Streaming Services. Krantz will begin at Grindr Sept. 26. The appointments are part of a previously announced transition that will see current CEO Jeff Bonforte and CFO Gary Hsueh step down and move into advisory roles with the company.
“All of us on the small team that acquired Grindr in June 2020 understood that it had the potential to be an amazing business, wholly focused on serving the LGBTQ+ community,” Bonforte said in a statement. “Key to the plan was finding long term leadership for the business that had not only deep professional experience, but also the life experience to understand the unique and very real challenges facing the global LGBTQ+ community.”