Grindr to buy HIV prevention telehealth firm Freddie for $250mn

Grindr has agreed to buy PurposeMed, the company behind HIV prevention service Freddie, for $250mn in cash and stock, it said in a statement on Wednesday.

Grindr will pay $190mn in cash and $60mn in shares. Up to $70mn more in cash depends on Freddie hitting targets in 2027. The deal is expected to close by the end of this year.

It is Grindr’s first major acquisition since the app launched in 2009.

Freddie was founded in Canada in 2020. It offers PrEP, a daily pill that prevents HIV, along with testing and home delivery, all online.

It has served more than 55,000 patients, the companies said. Freddie entered the US in 2024 and now covers all 50 states, The Globe and Mail reported.

Grindr, which says it has nearly 16 million monthly users, plans to put Freddie inside its app.

“Grindr has a direct line to millions of gay men, and Freddie brings the medical expertise to turn that reach into care,” said chief executive George Arison.

Freddie’s co-founder and chief executive, Dr Husein Moloo, said the deal would bring care to millions more people.

“Inside the app they already use every day,” he said, it could “speed up the work of ending the HIV epidemic.”

Freddie expects revenue above $80mn this year, and more than $10mn in adjusted earnings. Grindr warned that early spending will weigh on its margins at first.

The deal builds on Woodwork, the erectile dysfunction service Grindr launched in 2025. Grindr plans to fold the two into one Grindr Health offer.