Grindr Blog

In celebration of its fourth anniversary, Grindr today announced that the groundbreaking all-male, location-based meet-up app has amassed more than six million users, adding 2.5 million users in the last twelve months alone. The app has become a global sensation in four short years, having engaged with iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Android and BlackBerry users in 192 countries around the world. Four years ago, location-based apps, such as Grindr, started appearing in app stores, and now Grindr has become part of the fabric of pop culture and regularly discussed in mainstream television shows, including “Glee,” “Saturday Night Live,” “The Office,” “Chelsea Lately,” “The B- in Apartment 23,” and “Top Gear.”

“Grindr has proven to be an invaluable resource for men across the globe when they’re looking to meet-up,” said Joel Simkhai, founder and CEO of Grindr. “Five years ago, the only sure fire way to meet another gay man was to go to specific gay clubs or bars. Grindr opened up a whole new world for gay men by finally providing a more spontaneous, exciting and instantaneous way to meet guys. Since our launch, and specifically over the past year, our user base has grown exponentially and we owe that to our loyal and engaged users. Thanks to them, Grindr has become the best and easiest way for men to connect with other guys whether you’re in a small town or a major city anywhere in the world.”

As the largest all-male application, Grindr has the ability to directly tap the gay community to gain immediate and top-of-mind insights into what’s trending around the world. In fact, according to the latest survey* conducted by Grindr, millennials are more comfortable sharing their personal information and more than 90 percent of them freely provide their location to apps like Grindr. Using their smartphone mostly for social networking, mobile millennials spends more time on Grindr than any other generation.

“Millennials grew up with this technology, so they are more comfortable sharing their lives than other generations. However, millennials agree that their generation overshares more than others,” added Simkhai. “Our latest survey reveals that the top apps that millennials are most addicted to are Facebook, Grindr, Instagram and Twitter. It’s about connecting with their friends and sharing their experiences, whether that’s by posting pictures, revealing their location or offering whatever is on their mind.”

Additional key survey findings include:
• 80 percent of millennials agree their generation overshares.
• 71 percent of respondents are comfortable sharing their personal information.
• 92 percent of respondents are comfortable being tracked by enabling their location-based service.
• Respondents share their location mostly to find dates, followed by searching for nearby places.
• The apps that Grindr millennials are most addicted to are Facebook (30 percent), Grindr (28 percent), Instagram (7 percent) and Twitter (6 percent).

Grindr launched in March 2009 with the aim of helping gay, bi and curious men meet others around them. Since then, the app quickly grew and currently reaches more than six million users across 192 countries. As early adopters of location-based technology, Grindr has been recognized by the mainstream tech community, receiving honors for Best Mobile Dating Site at the third Annual iDate Awards announced at the 2012 Internet Dating Conference Awards Ceremony in Las Vegas earlier this year.

More than one million Grindr users log on to the app every day and transmit more than seven million chat messages and two million photos to one another. Grindr users spend about an hour and a half using the app daily, and they log in an average of eight times per day. Up to 190,000 users are logged onto Grindr at any given moment, and nearly 10,000 new users around the world join the app every day. Grindr also offers a premium service, Grindr Xtra, which strips away all of the banner advertising and gives users increased functionality and enhanced features such as push notifications, unlimited blocks and the ability to see roughly 200 more local guys in the cascade. For more information about Grindr, visit Grindr.com, check us out on Facebook at Facebook.com/Grindr or follow us on Twitter at Twitter.com/Grindr.

*The survey was conducted on March 6, 2013 with 5,000+ U.S.-based respondents.

About Grindr:
Launched in 2009, Grindr is the premier all-male geo-social network that uses location-based technologies to bring together a global community of more than six million users in 192 countries. Grindr also offers a fully loaded, premium subscription-based service called Grindr Xtra. Grindr is currently available on the iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, Android and Blackberry models. For more information, please visit Grindr.com or Grindr.com/Press.

You guys did it. Thanks to your votes, Grindr got nominated for a 2012 TechCrunch Crunchie Award for Best Mobile Application.

We know winning the Crunchie this year will be a battle – we’re up against some big boys such as Instagram and Google Maps. The good news is that together we can win. Let’s represent gay apps and beat out the competition!

Voting is supremely easy – all you’ve got to do is click here, scroll down to the fourth category, select Grindr and hit “Vote.”

Thanks so much for your support, guys.

The polls are closed, and the votes have been counted. The guys of Grindr have spoken, and it’s time to unveil the results: Grindr’s Best of 2012 Awards! We’ve got winners to announce in an array of categories.

You guys voted, and you’ve chosen this year’s most influential gay icons and trendsetters – the hands-down best gay and gay-relevant people, places and phenomena of 2012. So without further delay, let’s tear open the envelope and take a look at who (and what) got the crown this year.

• Gay icon of the year: Anderson Cooper
• Straight ally of the year: Barack Obama
• Best TV show: “Modern Family”
• Best source for gossip: TMZ
• Best TV host: Ellen DeGeneres
• TIE for best comedian: Kathy Griffin and Margaret Cho
• Best athlete: Orlando Cruz
• Movie of the year: “Magic Mike”
• Song of the year: “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen
• Gadget of the year: iPhone 5

We also asked users in specific cities to nominate the best local hotspots, trendsetters, personalities and advocates in their backyards. Check out the winners below.

Gym with the hottest guys:
• Fitness SF (San Francisco)
• Vida Fitness (Washington, D.C.)
• David Barton Gym, Chelsea (New York)
• 24 Hour Fitness (Denver)
• Boston Sports Club (Boston)
• FFC Fitness (Chicago)
• Equinox (Los Angeles)
• 24 Hour Fitness (Houston)
• Club Fitness (St. Louis)
• 24 Hour Fitness (Dallas)

Best place to get a haircut:
• Salon Baobao (San Francisco)
• Bang Salon (Washington, D.C.)
• Astor Place Barber Shop (New York)
• Floyd's 99 Barber Shop (Denver)
• Barbershop Deluxe (Boston)
• Chicago Male (Chicago)
• Shorty's Barber Shop (Los Angeles)
• Sports Clips (Houston)
• Paul Mitchell Salon (St. Louis)
• Supercuts on Lemmon (Dallas)

Best place to take a first date:
• Castro (San Francisco)
• Lauriol Plaza (Washington, D.C.)
• Central Park (New York)
• TIE: Red Rocks and Linger (Denver)
• Club Cafe (Boston)
• Wood (Chicago)
• The Grove (Los Angeles)
• Boheme Café and Wine Bar (Houston)
• Forest Park (St. Louis)
• West Village (Dallas)

Best Sunday Funday:
• Jock Sundays at The Lookout (San Francisco)
• Drag Brunch at Nellie's Sports Bar (Washington, D.C.)
• Griffin Sundays at the Griffin (New York)
• Legendary Beer Bust at Wrangler (Denver)
• Fritz (Boston)
• Sidetrack (Chicago)
• The Abbey (Los Angeles)
• Crocker (Houston)
• Just John (St. Louis)
• The Grapevine (Dallas)

Favorite gay bar/club:
• Badlands (San Francisco)
• Town Dance Boutique (Washington, D.C.)
• Therapy (New York)
• X Bar (Denver)
• Club Cafe (Boston)
• Roscoe's (Chicago)
• The Abbey (Los Angeles)
• F Bar (Houston)
• Just John (St. Louis)
• The Round-Up Saloon (Dallas)

Favorite bartender:
• Mike at Lookout (San Francisco)
• Carlos at JR's (Washington, D.C.)
• Jacob at G (New York)
• Kurt at Tracks (Denver)
• Joe Jovelle (Boston)
• Linda Little (Chicago)
• Anthony Saldana (Los Angeles)
• Leo at South Beach (Houston)
• Christian Lucas (St. Louis)
• Dylan Brown (Dallas)

Best gay night/party:
• Beatbox (San Francisco)
• Bear Happy Hour at Town (Washington, D.C.)
• Alegria (New York)
• Thursdays at Tracks (Denver)
• Epic Saturdays at the House of Blues (Boston)
• Northalsted Market Days (Chicago)
• Rasputin (Sat., Los Angeles) / Stripper Circus at Here Lounge (Wed., Los Angeles)
• Saturday Nights at South Beach (Houston)
• Attitudes Nightclub (St. Louis)
• Purple Party (Dallas)

Best DJ:
• Haute Toddy (San Francisco)
• TIE: Matt Bailer and Shea Van Horn (Washington, D.C.)
• Corey Craig (New York)
• Sean O'Grady (Denver)
• Richie LaDue (Boston)
• Phil DaBeatz (Chicago)
• Josh Peace (Los Angeles)
• Joe Ross (Houston)
• Charlie Buttons (St. Louis)
• Brandon Moses (Dallas)

Fiercest drag queen/nightlife personality:
• Pollo Del Mar (San Francisco)
• Shaquita Lee (Washington, D.C.)
• Bianca Del Rio (New York)
• Nina Flowers (Denver)
• Katya Zamolodchikova (Boston)
• Frida Lay (Chicago)
• Raven (Los Angeles)
• Kofi Cakes (Houston)
• Dieta Pepsi (St. Louis)
• Krystal Summers (Dallas)

Local hero/community advocate of the year:
• Scott Wiener (San Francisco)
• Barack Obama (Washington, D.C.)
• Anderson Cooper (New York)
• Corky Blankenship (Denver)
• Elizabeth Warren (Boston)
• Bill Pritchard (Chicago)
• John Duran (Los Angeles)
• Annise Parker (Houston)
• Leon Braxton (St. Louis)
• James Doyle (Dallas)

Best local gay news outlet:
• The Bay Area Reporter (San Francisco)
• Metro Weekly (Washington, D.C.)
• Next Magazine (New York)
• OutFront Colorado (Denver)
• EdgeBoston.com (online, Boston) / Bay Windows (print, Boston)
• Windy City Times (Chicago)
• Frontiers (Los Angeles)
• OutSmart Magazine (Houston)
• The Vital Voice (St. Louis)
• Dallas Voice (Dallas)

Thanks to all of our Grindr guys for voting, and congratulations to all the winners. See you again at the end of 2013!

To download a high-res image of the awards logo, click here.

Hey Guys,

The New Year is upon us, and I wanted to take a moment to reflect on Grindr and what we’ve been up to behind the scenes throughout 2012.

First, more than 1.5 million new users around the world downloaded the app and became Grindr guys just this last year. Between new and longtime users, billions of messages and photos were sent via the app. And I heard more amazing Grindr success stories than ever before – from those who found friends, boyfriends, husbands, roommates and everything in between. During the year, I personally made great use of the app as I traveled and met many incredible guys on my journeys, including dear friends. So, a special thanks to all of you for spreading the word, continuing to use Grindr and being devoted Grindr guys.

Second, as a company, we focused a lot on repairing and improving Grindr’s infrastructure in 2012. When we originally built the app and launched it back in March of 2009, we had no idea that within almost four years, we’d have more than 4.5 million guys in 192 countries. We’ve spent countless hours here at Grindr HQ making drastic changes to move the technology forward and priming the app for the exciting new features to come in the new Grindr.

This process of moving our services from older technology to new technology has produced periodic network interruptions, and we're doing everything in our power to keep those interruptions as short as possible. These infrastructure upgrades are vital in moving Grindr forward. Once we completely switch over to this new technology, you'll see a Grindr that works more smoothly and quickly. In addition, we'll be able to update Grindr much more quickly with new features and greater reliability.

As the CEO, founder and an avid user, my commitment to you in 2013 is a product that grows with your needs. We will further increase investment in our technology and resources to ensure Grindr continues to be the leader in helping you meet more guys.

I want to personally thank you for being Grindr guys. From our entire family of Grindr employees to yours, happy New Year!

-Joel

HIV/AIDS.

It's a very real issue that still affects our community in a very real way.

In a world where 1 in 5 gay men are HIV positive and half of them don’t even know it, the epidemic definitely isn’t over. And no one anywhere is immune from that epidemic. But there’s something we can do about it, and it’s pretty simple: Get tested. Knowledge is power, and knowing your status is the best way to fight the spread of HIV.

So together let’s break the silence. Click here to watch my short PSA on the issue.

Sincerely,
Joel Simkhai