Bumble: Dating app to launch its first cafe and wine bar in New York City

Dating app Bumble is inviting users to take their digital conversations offline with the launch of its first café in New York City.

This week, the company announced the launch of Bumble Brew – a café in New York City’s Soho neighbourhood that will transform into a wine bar at night, according to Bloomberg.

The site will reportedly serve as a meeting space for users of the app who are networking, on a date, or meeting friend. It will also host chef demonstrations by women, BFF parties, networking events, and date nights.

Bumble Brew is opening the café in collaboration with culinary group Delicious Hospitality to create the food and beverages.

During the day, visitors will be able to select from an array of pastries and coffee. At night, the site will offer small plates designed specifically not to embarrass diners.

“No spaghetti—nothing that would be awkward on a first date,” Ellis Roche, Bumble's chief of staff, told the publication.

Chef Ryan Hardy plans to serve food such as farro salad studded with cheese and roasted vegetables, plates of prosciutto, and an Italian sandwich layered with cold cuts. Prices will range from $12 (£9.44) to $15 (£11.81) for small plates.

Ahead of Bumble Brew’s opening, the company already has plans to roll out the cafe nationwide.

“We have big plans for Austin as well, but want to wait until we debut our new HQ/campus in 2020,” added Roche.

While Bumble Brew will be the first permanent location for the app, this isn’t the first time the brand has forayed into the hospitality industry.

Bumble has previously hosted pop-up "Hive" events in New York, London, Los Angeles and Toronto.

The temporary sites invited users to network, attend panel discussions on topics such as technology, health and relationships, as well as enjoy beauty makeovers.

In 2016, the brand launched the Bumble BFF feature to create a way for users to connect with new friends. A year later, it welcomed a similar mode dubbed "Bumble Bizz" to promote job seeking, mentoring, and networking for users.

Earlier this year, the company launched a new mode on Bumble Bizz which now allows women have the option to limit their professional networking exclusively to other women.

“Representation is critically important for women, especially in traditionally male-dominated industries,” CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd told CNBC at the time.

“We’re helping women connect with other women to show them what’s possible and give them resources as they build their careers.”

In April, the dating app announced the launch of Bumble Mag, a lifestyle publication that offers stories and advice about dating, careers, friendship and more to Bumble’s over 50 million users.

The same month, the app announced plans to release a new feature that will alert users to lewd images and allow them to block or report it without having to open the picture.

Using artificial intelligence, the app will be able to recognise in real time any inappropriate content contained in the image and blur it out, giving the user an opportunity to either open it or avoid the image entirely.

According to 2017 figures from YouGov, 53 per cent of millennial women have received an unsolicited image of a naked man.