Backlash As Hinge & Tinder Parent Company Invests $100M Into Cruising App Sniffies
Image: Sniffies App/Instagram
Cruising app Sniffies has entered a $100 million partnership with Match Group, parent company to Tinder and Hinge, leaving users deeply concerned the sex-positive community app will lose the authentic edge that made it so appealing in the first place.
The move will see Match Group, which owns and operates the largest global portfolio of popular online dating services, become a significant minority owner, with option to acquire the remaining equity in the future.
“Sniffies was built by Cruisers and for Cruisers,” founder and CEO Blake Gallagher said in a statement. “This partnership gives us additional resources to scale that experience globally, without losing the foundational perspective and principles it was built on.”
With 3 million monthly active users, Sniffies’ real-time, interactive map provides queer men with quick, user-submitted ways to find hookups, and has helped to modernise the historical queer act of cruising.
“Sniffies works because it reflects how connection actually happens: on your own terms, in your own space,” said Gallagher. “That part of the Sniffies experience won’t change. This partnership gives us additional resources to scale that experience globally, without losing the foundational perspective and principles it was built on.”
Gallagher says new partnership expects to bring new features to the app on a faster timeline, expand into global markets, and increase user safety and trust while cracking down on “spam and bad actors”.
“Taints the respect” users had for business
The acquisition comes as the conglomerate continues to expand its dating app portfolio. Last year, Match purchased lesbian and bi+ dating app, HER, and has also acquired apps aimed at dating in other specific communities, including those in Muslim, Christian, Black, Latino and Asian circles.
In 2023, the group launched their own dating app for queer men, Archer, which they have announced will be winding down following the Sniffies partnership.
“From the first time I met the Sniffies team a year ago, it was clear they had a deep understanding of their users and a strong point of view on how its community actually connects,” said Spencer Rascoff, chief executive officer of Match Group.
“That conviction has only strengthened over time as we’ve seen how thoughtfully they’ve built the product. There’s also clear and growing demand in this space, and Sniffies feels genuinely different and authentic to its audience. We’re excited to support the founders as they continue to build on their vision.”
Gallagher is adamant that the app will continue to be the same “unapologetic” cruising platform the community has grown to love.
“We’re not moving away from what makes Sniffies work: openness and directness,” he said.
“We’re continuing to build around real-world connection, with the same focus on immediacy, discovery, and exploration that got us here.”
However, immediate feedback from the community highlights the mass disappointment felt by many users who just see another community-focused app selling out.
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“You can keep reiterating that it’s founder-led and independently operated but statements as we are learning don’t mean shit these days,” reads the top comment on the Instagram announcement post.
“$100M investment from Match Group with path for full ownership. This just taints the respect as a business people had for you guys. Now Sniffies, the app that felt so gritty and raw in nature, that stood differently, that fell right in it’s anonymity is probably going to end up conforming to its shareholders in likes of Tinder and Hinge.”
Sniffies is the second biggest dating app for queer men, behind Grindr.
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