Grindr’s 2026 Product Roadmap

Posted on March 19, 2026
Grindr 2026 Product Roadmap

GRINDR – Grindr shared its 2026 product roadmap, and it’s clearly moving beyond just a dating app. At the center is its AI system, gAI™, which is now built into the whole app. It helps with better matches, improved search (even inside chats), and a Smart Inbox that highlights the conversations most likely to go somewhere. The idea is simple: less time wasted, better results. One of the main features is “Right Now,” focused on instant connections. It shows nearby users who are ready to meet and includes options like discreet posting for more privacy. Grindr is also expanding its premium offering with EDGE, an AI-powered tier that gives more personalized matches, compatibility insights, and tools to reconnect with past chats. Beyond dating, the app is adding more real-world features. Maps will show nearby places like bars and gyms, and they’re testing hotel bookings. There’s also a new Health Center with sexual health and wellness content and services.

See full article at Grindr website

The Latest Advice on How To Use AI In Your Dating/Social/Matchmaking Company

Posted on March 19, 2026
AI boosts productivity

HBS WORKING KNOWLEDGE – AI is more useful for conceiving ideas than executing them. It can help people with some skills accomplish unfamiliar tasks, but the technology essentially hits a wall when people lack sufficient expertise. The way you design jobs and recruit talent is changing. What really matters is the employee’s “knowledge distance” from the task. People who are not domain experts lack either sufficient understanding of the necessary information or the skills to use it effectively. Experts can more effectively find the information they need and use it to fill necessary gaps to create quality content. AI helps generate ideas and frame problems. However, the technology struggles to help novices execute tasks, implement solutions, and engage in hands-on problem-solving when they lack the necessary experience. However, AI delivers substantial productivity gains across the board.

AI can:

  1. Reduce training time – e.g., data scientists can transition to other roles, such as a marketing analyst or financial analyst, within the same organization with significantly less retraining.

  2. Shrink learning curves – so you can have flatter organizations because the learning curves for new tasks, such as SEO optimization, become much shorter.

  3. Speed up brainstorming – it’s helpful across the board for ideation.

See full article at HBS Working Knowledge

Mark Brooks (Courtland Brooks): Essential tools that I’m using daily beyond ChatGPT are Fathom for creating actions after meetings, Fyxer for optimizing and drafting emails, and WisprFlow for eliminating 90% of my typing. We’re also looking at Manus for desktop-based agent work, along with Lindy for interacting with a broader field of apps (without the complexity of n8n).

Michael O’Sullivan Launches New Book on Building a Dating Business

Posted on March 19, 2026
Book cover of 'Dating App' by Michael O'Sullivan

OPW – Michael O’Sullivan, founder of HubPeople, is launching a new book, Dating App, focused on what it really takes to build and run a dating business. This isn’t a typical “how to build an app” guide. It’s a practical look at the realities of the dating industry, covering how to operate, scale, and survive in a highly competitive market, based on O’Sullivan’s decades of experience working with global dating platforms.The book also includes interviews with six industry operators, sharing firsthand insights from building and growing real dating businesses. The ebook is available for pre-order now, with the full launch coming in July. 

Dating App FRNDS of FRNDS Acquired by Steven Macecevic

Posted on March 18, 2026
FRNDS of FRNDS

OPW – FRNDS of FRNDS, a college-focused dating app that matches users through mutual friends in their contacts rather than strangers, has been acquired by dating industry entrepreneur Steven Macecevic (founder of Datefit); terms of the deal were not disclosed. The app launched just 9 months ago, and has already grown to ~100K users with a network of ~17M contacts. Under Macecevic’s leadership, the company will push for rapid growth by increasing targeted marketing across major U.S. college campuses.

Grindr Launches AI-Powered Premium Tier to Boost Matchmaking

Posted on March 18, 2026
Grindr icon

LOS ANGELES TIMES – Grindr is rolling out an AI-powered premium tier focused on faster, more personalized matching, with features like curated daily matches, compatibility insights, and chat summaries, while also expanding AI across safety, inbox prioritization, and search; the move is part of a broader shift to become an AI-first company, as competitors like Bumble and Tinder push similar AI-driven tools to attract users.

See full article at Los Angeles Times

Bumble Launches “Bee” AI Matchmaker to Replace Swiping

Posted on March 18, 2026
Screenshot of the Bumble dating app interface featuring user profiles, a match notification, and options to chat. The left profile shows a user named Jamal, 22, identified as a Marketing Manager. The central screen prompts messaging after matching, and the right screen displays another user named Alex, 23, with options to view liked profiles.

AI MAGAZINE – Bumble has launched an AI assistant called Bee that acts as a personal matchmaker, using private chats to analyze users’ values, goals, and preferences, then suggesting highly compatible matches with explanations, reducing the need for swiping and giving users more control over what information is shared.

See full article at AI Magazine

Tinder Uses AI to Analyze Camera Rolls and Improve Match Recommendations

Posted on March 17, 2026
Tinder AI photos

DAILY DOT – Tinder is rolling out new AI features that analyze users’ camera rolls to suggest profile photos and create short descriptions of their personality and lifestyle through a tool called “Photo Insights.” This feeds into “Chemistry,” which Tinder describes as AI-curated recommendations that combine these insights with a user’s bio and preferences to suggest matches.

See full article at Daily Dot

Tinder Outlines Product Roadmap at First SPARKS Event

Posted on March 13, 2026
Tinder Sparks

OPW – Match Group hosted its first product-focused event, SPARKS 2026: Start Something New, on March 12, where executives outlined new features and the company’s product strategy for Tinder. The event’s name reflects what Tinder now considers its core success metric: “sparks.” According to the company, a spark occurs when two users exchange at least six back-and-forth messages, signaling genuine engagement. 18% of women who stopped using dating apps cited matches that never led to conversations as a key frustration. In response, Tinder has shifted its internal structure to become more product- and engineering-led, focusing on features that increase “Sparks”.

Opening the event, CEO Spencer Rascoff said Tinder remains one of the largest dating apps globally, with users making ~2B swipes per day. Despite claims that younger users are abandoning dating apps, he believes the demand for connection remains strong. 

He highlighted Double Date, a feature launched in June that allows users to pair with a friend and match with another pair. The feature is designed to reduce the pressure of one-on-one dates. According to the company, 1 in 5 US women aged 18–22 are already part of a Double Date pair, while adoption in Norway has reached 50%. 

Tinder is also expanding ways users connect through shared interests. Music Mode allows users to add up to 20 songs from Spotify to their profiles. Astrology Mode highlights zodiac compatibility. Both features are already available globally. Tinder is rolling out updates to the profile experience designed to add more context and personality: Photo prompts that add text to images, AI-powered Photo Enhance, Camera Roll Scan, which automatically creates visual collages from a user’s photo library.

IRL Events and Video Speed Dating
Tinder is introducing IRL events, starting with a pilot in Los Angeles, where users can browse and join curated local meetups through a new Events tab on the Tinder app. Another feature being tested is Video Speed Dating, which will allow users to have three-minute video conversations after completing photo verification. Video Speed Dating will launch in LA in June. 

Trust and Safety
Yoel Roth (SVP, Trust & Safety) said Tinder introduced 20 safety features over the past years and invested $125M in trust and safety. New tools include: Face Check, Share My Date, Are You Sure?, Does This Bother You?, Photo and ID verification. According to Tinder, Face Check has reduced views of bots and bad actors by 60% and cut related reports by 40%.

Executives said the recent product updates represent a shift away from purely swipe-based interactions toward features designed to increase engagement, lower pressure, and generate more “sparks” between users.

Bumble Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Results

Posted on March 12, 2026
Logo of Bumble Inc.

BUSINESS WIRE – Q4 2025: Bumble generated $224.2M in revenue (-14%) with 3.3M paying users (-20.5%). ARPPU increased to $22.20 (+7.9%). The company reported a $611.1M net loss, largely due to $630.5M in impairment charges, while Adjusted EBITDA was $71.6M. Full Year 2025: Revenue totaled $965.7M (-9.9%) with 3.7M paying users (-11.5%). ARPPU rose slightly to $21.64 (+1.9%). Bumble recorded a $906.6M net loss, mainly from $1.04 billion in impairment charges, though Adjusted EBITDA increased to $313.6M and operating cash flow reached $250M.

See full article at Bumble website

Announcing LTR 50 With Jeff Tarr (Founder and CEO of Operation Match) and Colin Hodge (co-founder of DOWN)

Posted on March 12, 2026

OPW – Edition 50 of the LTR (Love, Tech, Relationships) online experience will be on Wednesday, March 25th, at 12 pm (noon) EST (New York time).

In this edition, Mark Brooks will interview Jeff Tarr, Founder and CEO of Operation Match, to discuss his experience launching the first technology-based dating service in the 1960s. The conversation will explore how punch card computing powered early matchmaking, and the challenges of building a dating business before the Internet.

After that, Mark will speak with Colin Hodge, co-founder of DOWN, about his new book, Outrageous Startup Growth: Uncovering the Secrets of User Psychology to Scale Your Success, and how he scaled startups to over 100 million users using practical growth strategies.

If you hold a full-time leadership role at an online dating, social discovery, or matchmaking company, you are welcome to join LTR events for free.

Why attend LTR?

🏠 Flexible: Attend from anywhere – no travel required.
⏰ Convenient: Live session. 90 minutes.
💰 Free: No registration fees.

See the LTR Edition 50 speakers and invite page here.

This event is kindly sponsored by HubPeople and LeadThink.

Email mark@courtlandbrooks.com to RSVP.

Image featuring Jeff Tarr, co-Founder and CEO of Operation Match, and Colin Hodge, Founder and President of DOWN Dating App, set against a blurred audience background with the text 'LTR US' and 'Courtland Brooks'.