Grindr bets on HIV prevention: CEO targets 1.5-billion-dollar PrEP business

Dating app Grindr wants to establish itself more firmly as a health provider. In an interview with the healthcare newsletter Out-of-Pocket, chief executive George Arison outlined a goal of building the HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) business to a value of 1.5 billion dollars by 2030, targeting around 300,000 prescriptions in the US, industry outlet Global Dating Insights reported on 21 October. The basis is the 250-million-dollar acquisition of telehealth provider Freddie, which Grindr announced at the end of September. According to the report, Freddie accounts for about a third of PrEP prescriptions in Canada and has been active in the US for roughly 18 months.

PrEP is medication that HIV-negative people take preventively to protect themselves from infection. According to Fast Company, more than 644,000 people in the US used PrEP in 2025, a record, while the health agency CDC estimates that 2.2 million could benefit. Arison told the magazine that "everybody that can be on this drug should be on this drug". Grindr bundles its services under "Grindr Health", which already includes Woodwork, a service launched in 2025 that offers, among other things, erectile dysfunction medication.

According to Global Dating Insights, features under consideration include medication reminders and the option to show verified HIV test dates or PrEP prescriptions on profiles – voluntary and only with users' consent. Health data of this kind is regarded as particularly sensitive; the reports do not say how Grindr intends to store it and keep it separate from dating data. Commercially, Arison expects margins in the long run comparable to or higher than in the dating business.