May 26, 2017 | Sex Life

Grindr bought by Chinese billionaire

A Chinese company may be helping you get laid. Beijing Kunlun Tech bought an initial stake of 38.5 % of Grindr LLC in January of 2016 and this week completed its acquisition, for a total price of $240 million.

When Kunlun made its initial acquisition, Grindr’s founder, Joel Simkhai, reassured users that it would be  “business as usual.” China has restrictive laws on media, political information and porn, which mean that in China the Grindr app can be limited. There should be no such restrictions in the rest of the world.

While being gay is generally disapproved of in China, there are large gay communities in Beijing and Shanghai and they are more likely to use a Grindr competitor called Blued, which has almost 30 million registered users, compared to Grindr's 27 million. Blued last year completed a round of financing, boosting its net worth to $300 million.

Beijing Kunlun Tech is owned by 38-year-old billionaire Zhou Yahui.  “It is of strategic importance for us to fully engage in the daily operations of Grindr and make it our development milestone,” Kunlun said in a statement. 

As long as they don't mess with the core business, we think they'll be fine. 

Chinese tech giant buys Grindr [Pink News]