Tinder pledges up to $1mn in free in-app ads for women entrepreneurs

The firm is inviting applications from companies where at least 50 per cent of the founding team are women or identify as women.

Location-based dating service major Tinder on Thursday announced it is pledging up to $1 million in in-app advertising to support women and others who identify themselves as women entrepreneurs in India.

"We are proud to have women driving growth within the organisation across various functions including management, product engineering, and design. We remain committed to our promise of opening doors for women around the world and this initiative is another step in this direction," Taru Kapoor, GM, Tinder and Match Group, India, said in a statement.

Over 90 per cent of Tinder's community is between the ages of 18-30, and for any women-owned business aimed at that cohort, the ads are intended to support their business, their network and help them speak directly to potential consumers.

The firm is inviting applications from companies where at least 50 per cent of the founding team are women or identify as women.

To qualify, companies should be under 3 years old, have cumulatively raised less than Rs 35 crore in equity financing, and actively target Gen-Z and millennial audiences in India.

All applicants will be screened by an all-woman panel of Tinder executives in their sole discretion, and all decisions are final.