Grindr said on September 30, 2026 that it had agreed to acquire PurposeMed, the parent company of Freddie, a telehealth provider focused on HIV prevention, for $250 million. The price includes the Freddie brand and its partnerships with affiliated clinical networks.
Grindr will pay $190 million in cash and $60 million in Grindr common stock. Freddie's owners could receive up to $70 million more in cash in 2028 if the business hits performance targets for 2027, which would take the total to as much as $320 million. The boards of both companies approved the deal, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Grindr said Freddie's leadership team would join the company to keep building the business. It is Grindr's first major acquisition since it was founded.
What Freddie built
Freddie was founded in Calgary in 2020, according to BetaKit, and provides pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, the medication that lowers the risk of contracting HIV, along with other sexual health care for 2SLGBTQ+ patients. Its service combines physician-led telehealth visits, testing arrangements, pharmacy operations and patient support.
The company operates in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, and expanded into the United States in 2024. It now serves patients in all 50 U.S. states and Washington, D.C. Grindr said Freddie has treated more than 55,000 patients across both countries.
Freddie expects 2026 revenue of more than $80 million and adjusted EBITDA of more than $10 million. Grindr said current margins reflect early-stage spending, including on infrastructure for the U.S. business. Freddie estimates that its patients' PrEP use prevents about 385 new HIV transmissions a year.
“The challenge is connecting people to PrEP and helping them stay on it.”
Why Grindr is buying
Grindr has set a goal of connecting 10 million LGBTQ+ people worldwide to HIV prevention through its app by 2028. The company cited an estimate that about 650,000 people in the U.S. take PrEP, compared with roughly 2.2 million who could benefit from it.
PrEP cuts the risk of HIV infection by about 99%, Grindr said, and its use among gay and bisexual men in the U.S. is growing about 10% a year, yet most men who are eligible still do not take it. Freddie estimates that its patients' PrEP use saves the Canadian and U.S. health systems between $270 million and $580 million a year in future treatment costs.
“The challenge is connecting people to PrEP and helping them stay on it,” said George Arison, Grindr's chief executive and chairman. Freddie co-founder and chief executive Dr. Husein Moloo said in the release that no one reaches Freddie's community the way Grindr does.
Grindr plans to combine Freddie with Woodwork, its own performance-medication service, into a single Grindr Health offering that covers learning about treatment, enrolling, seeing a clinician and getting medication delivered and refilled. Using it will be voluntary: Grindr users will not have to sign up for Freddie, and Freddie patients will not have to use Grindr.
The founders and the backers
Moloo co-founded PurposeMed, which BetaKit said was founded in 2019 and also owns Frida, an ADHD virtual clinic, and Foria, a gender-affirming care provider. Under the deal, Frida and Foria will be split off as independent companies, while Grindr takes Freddie and PurposeMed's gender-affirming pharmacy services, BetaKit reported.
Freddie has been backed by Canadian venture firms True North Fund, BDC Capital and Panache Ventures, according to BetaKit. The amount the company raised was not disclosed.
BetaKit put the headline price at about C$356 million, with the cash portion equal to about C$270 million.
What it means for Grindr's numbers
Grindr said the acquisition would have an immaterial impact on its 2026 results and that it would give a 2027 outlook on its third-quarter earnings call in November. In its filing, the company listed retaining PurposeMed's leadership among the risks to the deal.
Fierce Healthcare and MobiHealthNews also reported the $250 million price, and Pulse2 described the deal as worth up to $320 million including the earnout.
