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Joel Simkhai
Israeli-American tech entrepreneur From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Joel Simkhai (/sɪmˈkaɪ/ ⓘ; Hebrew: יואל שמחאי; born c. 1976[1][2]) is an Israeli-American-French[3] tech entrepreneur. He is the founder and former CEO of Grindr[4] and Blendr.[5] His original goal in starting Grindr was for people with similar interests to find new friends nearby.[6]
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In 2022, he launched a new dating app called Motto.[7]
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Early life and education
Joel Simkhai was born in Tel Aviv, Israel. His mother was a jeweler, and his father was a diamond dealer. When Simkhai was three years old, his family moved to New York City.[8] While in high school, he says he dated women; he remarked that he was not being dishonest about his sexuality, but that his "coming out of the closet was a process".[8] He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations & Economics from Tufts University in May 1998.[citation needed] After starting college, he came out to his parents and friends. He has two brothers, who are also gay.[1] Simkhai owns several properties, primarily residing in New York.[9] In 2021, Dave Keuning bought a mansion that Simkhai owned in Outpost Estates.[10]
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Business career
After college, Simkhai worked in mergers and acquisitions.[1] He conceived the idea of the app to answer the need of knowing "who else around you is also gay".[8] While he started with little money or expertise,[11] and never expected Grindr to become international,[8] he became a multimillionaire CEO of an app with millions of users worldwide.[4] In 2014, Simkhai demonstrated that he was a user of his own app. He ceased including in his profile information regarding his role behind Grindr [8] In January 2018, he left Grindr after the company was sold to the Chinese gaming company Beijing Kunlun Tech.[12][13]
Simkhai is a charter member of the Young Presidents' Organization.[4]
In 2022, Simkhai launched a mobile app called MOTTO for the gay and queer community. He labeled it as an attempt to "course correct" away from the negative aspects of already-existing gay dating apps.[14] The company is based in New York City.[15] According to its website, the app shut down in September 2024.[16]
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References
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