Tinder CEO Denies Funding Rumors

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Tinder Chief Executive Sean Rad shot down reports that the dating app is in talks with VC firm Benchmark to raise a round that would value the company at $750 million.

Rad said such talks, originally reported in TechCrunch, were “rumors” when asked about them while on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco, an annual conference where startups launch products and services to compete for prize money and garner interest from investors.

“Look, we’re in a fortunate position that we have internal sources of funding so we don’t need to raise outside capital,” he said. “But it’s something we think about often. We haven’t raised any third-party capital, and there’s no deal that we’ve done.”

The dating app and its “swipe left for no, swipe right for yes” interface launched in 2012 out of InterActivCorp’s incubator Hatch Labs. IAC still holds a majority stake in the Venice company. Tinder’s user engagement is a huge attraction for investment suitors. Rad said on stage the app processes 1.2 billion swipes and makes 13 million matches each day.

Tinder on Monday settled a sex harassment complaint filed by former employee Whitney Wolfe. The suit led to the resignation of co-founder Justin Mateen.

Staff reporter Melissah Yang can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @MelissahYang for the latest in L.A. tech news.

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