Feeld: ‘Vanilla’ users drive profit rise as app expands beyond kink and non‑monogamy niches
Feeld has posted a rise in profits after attracting a wave of more conventional, or “vanilla,” users to its platform, expanding the app’s customer base beyond its original focus on people in open relationships and kink communities.
Accounts filed at Companies House show sales grew 26% to £48.9m in 2024 as Feeld’s audience outside the UK increased. The growth rate was slower than the prior year, when the company doubled its revenues inside 12 months, according to reporting in The Guardian.
Higher sales helped the company report pre‑tax profit of £9.3m in 2024, up from £6m the year before, even as Feeld increased marketing spend to support its expansion.
Feeld was founded in London in 2014 by Dimo Trifonov and his partner Ana Kirova, who launched the app after discussing opening up their own relationship. The service set out to be a more open‑minded alternative to mainstream apps. Its original name, 3nder (pronounced “Thrinder”), drew a legal challenge from Tinder and the company was forced to rebrand; that dispute was widely reported at the time (Tinder deployed legal threats).
Now operating as Feeld, the app serves people seeking polyamorous and non‑monogamous arrangements as well as fetishists and those with alternative gender identities. But as traditional dating apps have seen user declines, Feeld has continued to grow by drawing users outside its original niche who are attracted to the app’s racier image.
Feeld’s co‑founder and chief executive, Ana Kirova, has acknowledged the integration challenge of welcoming users with more conventional expectations. As Kirova told The Guardian, “I do think it’s a challenge that it’s becoming more mainstream in some ways,” and she asked, “How do we welcome people who’ve never heard of Feeld, who don’t understand the list of sexualities and genders [or] who don’t understand what ethical non‑monogamy is?” (read the profile).
The company’s accounts also record a dividend payment of £600,000 last year, the majority of which went to Trifonov and Kirova, who together own more than half the business. Kirova, who became CEO in April 2021, has overseen a rebrand and a technology upgrade that initially suffered glitches.
Feeld has also faced scrutiny over security. Reporting last year highlighted potential vulnerabilities that may have allowed access to sensitive user data, including messages, private photos and declared sexualities (cybersecurity experts exposed the issues).
As Feeld moves further into the mainstream, the company faces the twin tasks of maintaining a safe, welcoming space for long‑standing users while adapting to the demands and expectations of a broader, more conventional membership.
