Sarah Jones Simmer, courtesy photo.

Bumble’s mission is to end misogyny, said Sarah Jones Simmer, the chief operating officer of Bumble.

“We’re doing that through a platform of connections but also building a brand, not just a tech company, but a brand that stands for empowerment, accountability, kindness, equality,” Jones Simmer said.

She spoke at the Austin Startup Week Women in Tech Summit at Capital Factory on Monday during a fireside chat with Mellie Price, co-founder of Capital Factory.

Bumble, based in Austin, is a dating app launched in December of 2014 by Whitney Wolfe Herd, a former co-founder at Tinder. She wanted to build a dating app with women in mind. Since then, Bumble has also launched Bumble Bizz, a business networking platform within the Bumble App. Altogether, Bumble has 40 million users worldwide now. It has offices in New York, London, Los Angles, Toronto, Berlin and Sydney and it’s about to launch its first Asian office, Jones Simmer said.

Bumble launched a $1 million fund a month ago to invest in early-stage businesses founded and led by women of color who are creating products that serve women. Jones Simmer is leading the Bumble Fund’s investment strategy.

So far, it has invested in a few companies like Sofia Los Angeles, a swimwear company founded and led by Anasofia Gomez, one of the winners of its inaugural Bumble Bizz Pitch competition.

Bumble has about 100 employees locally and 85 percent are women. It also affects the company’s culture and perks.

“On Fridays, instead of having Ping Pong and beer, we have mani-pedis and blowouts,” Jones Simmer said.

Extended parental leave and flexible work schedules are also ways to accommodate working parents, Jones Simmer said.

To handle everything, Jones Simmer said she must prioritize, and allow some things to undone. She also doesn’t get enough sleep. But she’s focusing on self-care and realizes that she must also hire good people and rely on them to get things done.

Jones Simmer did not talk about Bumble’s plans for an Initial Public Offering. In an interview last month with CNBC, Bumble CEO Wolfe Herd mentioned that Bumble is “actively pursuing” going public. Wolfe Herd also told CNBC that the company is filing a $400 million counter-lawsuit again Match, the parent company of Tinder, which alleges Bumble has violated its patents and trademarks and misused trade secrets, according to the CNBC report.

For more on Jones Simmer talk with Price at Capital Factory, please watch the livestream below.


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