Bumble balances gender representation of C-suite with two new hires

Women-friendly dating and networking app Bumble announced today it’s expanding its C-suite with two new hires: Anu Subramanian as Bumble’s chief financial officer, who hails from Univision, and Selby Drummond as chief brand officer, who is joining from Snap. The additions also create something of a milestone for Bumble, as the company can now claim it has equal male-to-female representation across its C-suite, which is, unfortunately, still unusual for a company of Bumble’s size.

Before the new hires, Bumble’s C-suite included CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd, Chief Strategy Officer Sarah Jones Simmer, General Counsel Mariko O’Shea, Chief of Staff Caroline Roache, President Tariq Shaukat, CMO Dominic Gallello, Chief Product Officer Miles Norris, CTO Ronen Benchetrit, CCO Robbie McKay and Chief People Officer Tran Taylor.

Subramanian is joining Bumble from Univision Digital, where she had served as the senior vice president and chief financial officer. In this position, she helped lead Univision’s digital assets, including its direct-to-consumer business. Before Univision, Subramanian had worked at VICE Media, where she was the chief financial officer of the company’s global digital business. She also worked in the past at Scripps Networks in various roles, including CFO of digital.

Drummond, meanwhile, had been Snapchat’s first-ever global head of Fashion and Beauty Partnerships. Her work at Snap included leading strategy and launch efforts for Snapchat’s new fashion and shopping features, as well as content initiatives across the Snapchat, Bitmoji and Spectacles products. Before Snap, Drummond worked at American Vogue for eight years, where she had been a senior fashion editor. In her last role, she had risen to Accessories and Special Projects director, working on brand partnerships with Off-White, Air Jordan, Kith and Proenza Schouler, and was involved with the magazine, website and events like the Met Gala.

The two new additions to Bumble’s executive lineup arrive shortly after the company’s recent hires of its first-ever president, Tariq Shaukat and chief technology officer, Ronen Benchetrit.

Bumble says Subramanian and Drummond will partner with Bumble’s new and legacy executive leaders to support the company’s plans to expand its app to more countries and support its growth in Europe, Asia and Latin America.

The news follows what’s been a busy year for the dating and networking app. At the end of last year, Bumble took control of its business from its main backer, Badoo, valuing the now-profitable dating app at $3 billion. The deal also allowed Bumble CEO Wolfe Herd to run Bumble and other previously Badoo-backed dating apps, including Badoo, Lumen and Chappy.

According to reports, Bumble hit 100 million users this summer and is preparing to IPO in 2021, possibly at a $6 billion-plus valuation.

“The additions of Anu and Selby underscore our commitment, along with Blackstone, to strengthen our bench with world class talent that deeply epitomize our mission and values, said Wolfe Herd in a statement about the hiring news. “Not only will their contributions provide a powerful impact on our businesses, they’ve also brought equal representation of women and men on our executive leadership team — a milestone that means a great deal to me on many levels,” she added.