Grindr announced second-quarter financial results showing revenue growth of 33% to $138 million compared to the prior year. The company also raised its full-year 2026 guidance, now projecting approximately $540 million in total revenue and roughly $232 million in adjusted EBITDA.
CEO George Arison attributed the strong performance to the company’s comprehensive artificial intelligence strategy, which extends beyond consumer-facing features to encompass internal operations and product development. The company estimated that engineering output increased roughly 2.5 times between July 2025 and April 2026 while maintaining a comparable engineering team size. According to the company’s earnings presentation, achieving similar technical output through traditional hiring would have required approximately 200 additional engineers and roughly $60 million in annual costs.
Arison highlighted the cost-benefit analysis of the AI investments, noting the company was on track to spend $6 million on language model tokens during the year. He characterized this expenditure as justified based on productivity gains that he assessed as approximately 10 times greater than the token spending. The company has deployed coding assistants and software development tools from providers including Cursor, Anthropic’s Claude, and Devin, while maintaining current staffing levels and avoiding job eliminations.
Grindr is testing a premium AI-powered subscription product called Edge, which costs as much as $350 monthly in select markets including New York. Initial testing revealed broader adoption patterns than anticipated, with subscribers upgrading from lower-tier memberships and non-subscribers purchasing the premium tier directly. The company reported paying user count grew to 1.4 million in the second quarter, representing 16% year-over-year growth, while average revenue per paying user reached $25.51, up 12% compared to the prior year. Subscriber retention exceeded expectations despite price increases across premium membership tiers.
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