Whitney Wolfe Herd Brings Bumble to Montauk

Whitney Wolfe Herd, CEO of dating app Bumble, recently launched new verticals Bizz and BFF. To make this a summer of love, she's bringing it all to a pop-up in Montauk.

With supersplashy launches for Bumble Bizz in New York City and Los Angeles last fall, Bumble (bumble.com) founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd has been on a roll. Both events included a collection of powerful women, which is fitting since Herd’s BFF app—an offshoot of Bumble, launched in 2016—focuses on platonic connections between women. The newer Bumble Bizz, on the other hand, seeks to challenge LinkedIn by bringing swiping into the career sphere.

As if that weren’t enough, from now through Sept. 3, the Bumble crew is popping up in Montauk at The Surf Lodge (thesurflodge.com). “This pop-up will act as a mini Bumble Hive and serve as an extension of The Surf Lodge’s art gallery,” says Herd of the first the company has done in a bar or hotel. “We’re always looking for new ways to bring the Bumble experience to life outside of our app, and we love creating physical spaces where our users can foster meaningful, empowered connections through dating, friendship and business.” Herd cites The Surf Lodge as the quintessential Hamptons destination where the activation will be smack-dab in the middle of all the sexy singles activity this summer. The Bumble Hive has a chic beachy theme that complements The Surf Lodge’s overall vibe, while friends of the brand, sisters Erin and Sara Foster, will be on hand “making it as fun as humanly possible—that’s for sure!” promises Herd.

Those East Enders looking for love should take note. Herd now helms one of the fastest-growing social networks in the world. In less than three years, her strategic vision has led to Bumble’s growth of more than 35 million users worldwide and has single-handedly disrupted the way people connect online and off. “We recently surveyed our users and found that more than 85 percent of people on Bumble are looking for a lasting relationship, not a hookup,” she says. “Specifically, less than 4 percent of the male users surveyed said they were looking for a fling.” Herd believes people join Bumble to make empowering connections across all types of relationships—from dating to friendship to business. “We’ve had so many success stories come, and it shows that it truly only takes one connection to change your life.” Who knows? Maybe your current match is waiting for you at The Surf Lodge.