Why Serena Williams, Priyanka Chopra-Backed Bumble Got Into Entrepreneur India's Shepreneurs Class of 2019 American entrepreneur Whitney Wolfe Herd chose India the first country in Asia to launch Bumble, where women break the ice
By Punita Sabharwal •
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How a low moment in life can transpire you to a new empowered journey has been the story of Bumble. The dating app launched in India last year in December with an active user base of around 45 million. Bumble's expansion in India was led with the support of actor Priyanka Chopra. International tennis star, Serena Williams, who starred in the company's first-ever Super Bowl ad #InHerCourt, will join the organization as an investor and active member of the Bumble Fund.
Whitney Wolfe Herd, the American entrepreneur made India the first country in Asia to get Bumble. Running a separate fund for female founders, Whitney also started a venture fund and has so far invested in almost a dozen startups. Sharing more on her startup's journey, Herd says, "What got me here was my struggle against a patriarchal society, which I faced throughout my relationships in all walks of my life."
She realized men hate when women message first and that's where Bumble wanted to inspire and empower today's generation of women. As per her, the hardest and the most rewarding part of the journey has been that she could show that there is a room for change. "It is about changing the way women feel about how they should connect, that is why we do what we really do," shares Herd.
About her investor and advisor, Chopra, she says, "I had the opportunity to sit next to Priyanka Chopra at a dinner. They were speaking about why I am doing bumble, what's the message, mission and vision. That excited her and she said let's take it to India together." Bumble came to India with a lot of customizations like empowering women to sign in with just the first initial, focusing much more on security and safety of women. Bumble is available in more than 160 countries around the world. The dating app has done well in several countries. The 100 people team at Bumble is all set to make a change by letting women be incharge of their love life.
(This article appears in the March 2019 issue of Entrepreneur Magazine. To subscribe, click here. You can buy our tablet version from Magzter.com. To visit our Archives, click here.)
