Grindr has agreed to acquire PurposeMed, the parent company of HIV prevention telehealth provider Freddie, for $250 million in cash and stock, with the transaction potentially reaching $320 million based on performance milestones.
The acquisition represents Grindr’s first major acquisition since its founding and is intended to accelerate the expansion of its Grindr Health business.
Under the agreement, Grindr will pay $190 million in cash and $60 million in Grindr common stock at closing.
PurposeMed shareholders could receive another $70 million in cash tied to 2027 performance targets, payable in 2028.
The boards of Grindr and PurposeMed have approved the transaction, which is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2026 subject to applicable closing conditions.
Freddie provides telehealth access to pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, and other HIV prevention services.
Grindr plans to integrate Freddie into its app, allowing users to learn about PrEP, connect with clinicians, arrange testing, obtain prescriptions, and receive medication.
PrEP reduces HIV risk by approximately 99%, according to the company’s announcement.
Approximately 650,000 people in the U.S. currently take PrEP, compared with an estimated 2.2 million who could benefit.
Grindr has established a goal of connecting 10 million LGBTQ+ people globally with HIV prevention through its app by 2028.
Founded in Canada in 2020, Freddie has helped more than 55,000 patients in Canada and the U.S. access PrEP and now serves patients across all 50 U.S. states.
Freddie estimates that PrEP use among its patients prevents approximately 385 new HIV transmissions annually, representing more than one per day.
The company estimates those prevented infections save the U.S. and Canadian healthcare systems between $270 million and $580 million in future treatment expenses each year.
Following the acquisition, Grindr plans to combine Freddie with Woodwork, its performance-medication business, under a unified Grindr Health experience.
Users will be able to voluntarily access education, clinician consultations, testing, prescriptions, medication delivery, refill management and care-team communication through the platform.
Freddie’s existing patients will not be required to use Grindr, and Grindr users will not be required to access Freddie.
Freddie’s leadership team will join Grindr after completion of the transaction.
Freddie expects to generate more than $80 million in revenue and more than $10 million in adjusted EBITDA in 2026.
Grindr expects the acquisition to have an immaterial impact on its 2026 financial results and plans to provide additional information about its 2027 outlook during its third-quarter earnings call.
KEY QUOTES:
“For generations of gay men, HIV shaped how we thought about intimacy, relationships, and our own futures. Today, we have the tools to prevent it. New infections should be close to zero, and that is what we are striving to achieve. The challenge is connecting people to PrEP and helping them stay on it. Grindr has a direct line to millions of gay men, and Freddie brings the medical expertise to turn that reach into care. Together, we can revolutionize access to HIV prevention, just as Grindr revolutionized how gay men meet, and accelerate progress toward ending the HIV epidemic.”
George Arison, CEO and Chairman of Grindr
“We built Freddie to make HIV prevention simple and accessible for everyone who needs it. Today we estimate Freddie prevents a new HIV transmission across the US and Canada every day. No one reaches the Freddie community like Grindr does. Together we can bring that care to millions more people, inside the app they already use every day, and speed up the work of ending the HIV epidemic. I’m incredibly proud of what our team has built, and we’re excited for this next chapter as part of Grindr.”
Dr. Husein Moloo, Co-Founder and CEO of PurposeMed and Freddie
