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The $600 million company joins Kanye West's Yeezy, the Whitney Museum of Art, SoHo House, Alexander Wang, Oscar de la Renta, and Valentino as recipients.
Even though it was just bought for $608 million, looks like Grindr needed a little more cash. According to reports, the tech company that revolutionized the way queer men meet up, was one of many big businesses to nab a bit of dough from Donald Trump's $660 billion paycheck protection program.
According to a report by the New York Post, Grindr received between $1 million and $2 million in loans. They attribute that to keeping 69 people on their payroll. In its inception, the protection program was aimed specifically at small businesses that had to shut down because of social distancing. As a tech company, Grindr which keeps people connected virtually, Grindr absolutely did not shut down. In fact, they took quarantine as the prime opportunity to launch a web browser version of their app.
This influx of cash by the government -- which we should point out still makes up only a fraction of one percent of what the company is worth -- comes after the company changed ownership. Previously owned by Kunlun Tech, this summer Grindr officially became the property of San Vicente Acquisition and put in place Jeff Bonforte and Rick Marini, two cisgender, heterosexual, self-proclaimed allies, as CEO and COO respectively.
Coming in, the company was reportedly doing well. Marini told the LA Times that the business was bringing in "well over $100 million of revenue" annually and was "growing quickly." With all of that growth, it was important for the company to apply for and take the cash that was supposed to be earmarked for actual small businesses. Interesting.
They aren't the only ones of course. Grindr is joined by businesses like Kanye West's Yeezy, the Whitney Museum of Art, SoHo House, Alexander Wang, Oscar de la Renta, Valentino, and more.
There's room for everybody apparently!
RELATED | Grindr Is Disabling Its Ethnicity Filter to Fight Racism
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Mikelle is the former editorial director of digital for PrideMedia, guiding digital editorial and social across Out, The Advocate, Pride.com, Out Traveler, and Plus. After starting as a freelancer for Out in 2013, he joined the staff as Senior Editor working across print and digital in 2018. In early 2021 he became Out's digital director, marking a pivot to content that centered queer and trans stories and figures, exclusively. In September 2021, he was promoted to editorial director of PrideMedia. He has written cover stories on Ricky Martin, Miss Fame, Nyle DiMarco, Jeremy O. Harris, Law Roach, and Symone.
Mikelle is the former editorial director of digital for PrideMedia, guiding digital editorial and social across Out, The Advocate, Pride.com, Out Traveler, and Plus. After starting as a freelancer for Out in 2013, he joined the staff as Senior Editor working across print and digital in 2018. In early 2021 he became Out's digital director, marking a pivot to content that centered queer and trans stories and figures, exclusively. In September 2021, he was promoted to editorial director of PrideMedia. He has written cover stories on Ricky Martin, Miss Fame, Nyle DiMarco, Jeremy O. Harris, Law Roach, and Symone.
