This article was published on April 3, 2013

Grindr and Blendr co-founder Scott Lewallen departs to relaunch independent consultancy


Grindr and Blendr co-founder Scott Lewallen departs to relaunch independent consultancy

Scott Lewallen, one of the founders of the popular Grindr and Blendr social networks, has left the company to relaunch Mezic Media, his own independent consultancy focused on branding and mobile app creation.

Grindr launched in 2009 with Lewallen as Senior vice President of Product and Design. The location-based gay social app has grown to six million users in 192 countries, with more than 2.5 million users joining in the past year alone. In 2011, the company released a straight equivalent, Blendr, which now claims over 176 million users.

A recent report from App Annie found the Grindr Xtra app to be one of the top-earning social networking apps on Apple’s App Store in January. It ranked in fifth place for the month, behind messaging apps Line and WhatsApp and dating services Zoosk and Badoo.

Lewallen said in a statement that he was proud of the Grindr/Blendr team’s accomplishments over the past four years, adding that founding the services was a “fantastic experience.” As he moves on, he’ll be taking on some “exciting” mobile app projects with Mezic Media and stepping back into freelance consultation.

Related: Grindr: (Probably) Not Your Father’s Geosocial Network and How technology is changing the way we have sex

Image credit: iStockphoto

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