Gay Bear App Growlr Bought by Scruff and Jack’d Owner
Perry Street Software plans to overhaul Growlr with a new design and expanded bear event sponsorships, while eliminating live streaming.
Perry Street Software, the company behind gay apps Scruff and Jack’d, has acquired Growlr, a popular app for bears and their admirers, from The Meet Group.
The Meet Group bought Growlr from its founder, Coley Cummiskey, for $11.8 million in 2019 — nine years after the app launched — with an additional $2 million tied to revenue targets.
At the time, Growlr had more than 200,000 daily active users and was expected to generate around $5.3 million in annual revenue, according to Global Dating Insights. It now serves close to half a million daily users.
According to a press release, Perry Street Software plans a multi-million-dollar, multi-year investment to rebuild the app, modernize its design, and expand its presence in the bear community.
“We’re seeing significant growth in the bear community, and we know the deep affection held by bears for Growlr,” Perry Street Software co-founder John Skandros said in a statement. “We are going to reinvest in Growlr to cement its reputation as the best app for bears, and we will make sure Growlr shows up for the bear community everywhere it comes together in the real world.”
Perry Street Software plans to “modernize and evolve” the app with a new look and feel, a new logo, a redesigned profile page, and new sharing capabilities in chat. The company cites early improvements, including expanded “Shouts,” which let members send a single message to multiple people within a chosen radius, and the return of “Flashes,” a profile boost that increases a member’s visibility nearby.
The company is also reportedly rethinking “video content and its place in the app,” and is focused on weeding out bots and spammers.
“We were eager to bring Growlr into our family of apps that focus on communities within the broader LGBTQ+ world,” Perry Street Software CEO Eric Silverberg said in a statement. “For us, the communities we serve are also communities we belong to, and that gives this work a personal significance and a real sense of responsibility… [B]y being part of the community, we answer to our community.”
Perry Street Software is expanding Growlr’s sponsorship of bear events and “Bear Weeks” in the United States and around the world in 2027. The company previously used a similar strategy to boost the visibility of Scruff and Jack’d, creating a game show on Scruff and the Jack’d Queer Film Festival, which streams projects from queer filmmakers of color directly in the app.
Growlr will relaunch its social media presence and is partnering with bear influencers to promote its new branding. Its merchandise will be refreshed, with the brand teaming up with fashion designers to introduce its first bear-focused apparel line in spring 2027.
Perry Street Software is also reportedly developing Growlr-first content projects as part of a long-term plan to grow the brand. It has bought the domain name growlr.com, which Growlr never previously owned, and is using the site to recruit software engineers and influencers.
The most noticeable — and perhaps contentious — change is the elimination of live video streaming, a feature launched during the COVID lockdowns of 2020 and 2021 that allowed users to broadcast and engage with others. Many users amassed large followings and held regularly scheduled broadcasts to keep in touch with their followers.
While some users welcomed the change, arguing that video streaming — which prohibited risqué or overly sexual acts or conversations — has no place on a dating app, others lamented its removal.
“The first decision made (to eliminate live streams) was THE worst decision you could’ve made,” wrote one commenter on an Instagram post announcing the acquisition. “Many people around the world used your app exclusively for this feature, and will leave in a mass exodus now that the feature is gone. I have met many great people from all over who have become good friends of mine, and if it weren’t for Growlr live streaming, I would have never even met them.”.
Perry Street Software did not immediately respond to Metro Weekly‘s request for comment.
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