Grindr expands into healthcare with $250million acquisition of online PrEP clinic
Grindr is expanding from dating to healthcare. (Thomas Fuller/Getty)
LGBTQ+ app Grindr is moving beyond dating and expanding into healthcare with a $250million acquisition of PurposeMed, the parent company of HIV prevention telehealth provider Freddie.
“Starting today, Grindr users in the US and Canada can choose to access free or low cost PrEP care through the Grindr app,” the app announced on its website.
“We’re making this possible in partnership with Freddie, a physician-led telehealth and pharmacy platform that Grindr today announced an agreement to acquire.”
“Through Grindr’s Health center, users can now connect with Freddie to see a clinician, get tested, and have medication delivered discreetly.”
With this acquisition, Grindr is aiming to make it more accessible to learn about PrEP, connect with a clinician, complete testing, and also manage care.
Founded in 2020, Freddie provides healthcare focused on HIV prevention, sexual wellness, and affirming healthcare tailored to the LGBTQ+ community.
Additionally, Freddie partners with community-based organisations to offer all clinical services associated with PrEP for free. The organisation also claims that “the majority of Freddie patients” can receive their PrEP prescription for free through their health insurance.
‘New infections should be close to zero’
This is Grindr’s first major acquisition since the company was founded in 2009. It also marks Grindr’s push to build out its own LGBTQ healthcare platform, Woodwork, which launched last year.
Grindr’s statement to investors says about 650,000 people in the US are on PrEP today, despite an estimated 2.2million who could benefit. Together, Grindr and Freddie are working to close that gap.
“For generations of gay men, HIV shaped how we thought about intimacy, relationships, and our own futures. Today, we have the tools to prevent it,” said Grindr CEO and Chairman, George Arison.
“New infections should be close to zero, and that is what we are striving to achieve. The challenge is connecting people to PrEP and helping them stay on it.
“Grindr has a direct line to millions of gay men, and Freddie brings the medical expertise to turn that reach into care. Together, we can revolutionize access to HIV prevention, just as Grindr revolutionized how gay men meet, and accelerate progress toward ending the HIV epidemic.”
Dr Husein Moloo, Co-founder and CEO of PurposeMed and Freddie, also added: “Today we estimate Freddie prevents a new HIV transmission across the US and Canada every day. No one reaches the Freddie community like Grindr does.
“Together we can bring that care to millions more people, inside the app they already use every day, and speed up the work of ending the HIV epidemic.”
Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.
