Hinge has been a bright spot for parent company Match Group and is on a path to be a $1 billion business by 2027. The dating app that is designed to be deleted, as its tagline maintains, continues to advertise real stories of love found on its platform, but is also working to improve the underlying world of socialization and dating with funding and marketing muscle.

Among Hinge’s Gen Z user base, the state of dating is dire. Contributing to the decline of dating is a related decline in social connection that has been exacerbated by the effects of the pandemic, smartphones and social media. Gen Zers are spending 1,000 less hours of in-person connection time per year compared to their peers 20 years ago, the U.S. Surgeon General found in 2023.

Launched in 2023, Hinge’s One More Hour initiative looks to help drive in-person connections among young adults by providing grants to social groups and organizations in major cities, including New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta. The brand has provided more than $2 million in grants and will invest an additional $1.5 million globally this year. Hinge saw revenue increase 28% in Q1 2026.

“Our mission is to create a less lonely world, and that is tried-and-true through everything that we do — our product, our marketing, our comms and our social impact work — because it is important for us to be able to help people just feel comfortable going out and having a conversation with someone,” said Tamika Young, who was promoted to the chief marketing and communications officer position in December after previous CMO Jackie Jantos was promoted to CEO.

One More Hour now spans grants, events and social group directories featuring 83 groups in New York, Los Angeles and London. Hinge this month invited young people in several cities around the world to nominate the local groups that deserve funding. But it does not require promotion or app downloads as part of the initiative as it looks to build credibility with Gen Z by not treating community as a marketing channel, especially as some brands have pulled back on community engagement due to pushback around purpose-driven and DEI-related marketing.

“We hear stories from some of these organizations that they’re on the brink of giving up, and a grant of $25,000 gives them the hope and the optimism that they can continue on, because they're doing really incredible work,” Young said. “I hope other brands are also seeing the opportunity to do that, and not in a way where we're trying to brand or trying to co-opt the experience or the communities that are being built.”

Marketing to Gen Z

Hinge last month debuted “Can’t Believe We Met on Hinge,” the latest iteration of the “It’s Funny We Met on Hinge” campaign. The third chapter in the campaign features a series of videos about the emotional mindset people were in before they found a partner via the app. With the content, Hinge worked to engage Gen Z, which makes up more than half of its audience.

“It is important for us to continue to evolve and showcase the realities of what [Gen Z is] navigating. It would be really disingenuous for us to paint a picture that wasn't reflective of how Gen Z are going through their dating journey,” Young said.

The content mixes footage shot by the couples, archival moments from their camera rolls and a textured visual language. The campaign, developed in collaboration with creative collective Birthday and directed by filmmaker India Sleem, spans streaming, cinema and social media in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Australia through July. Hinge worked to embed its target cohort in the creative and production process.

“We brought in a Gen Z producer and a Gen Z photographer to really help us amplify those voices,” Young said. “Looking at the way in which the content came to life, we infused a little bit more playfulness, fun and archival footage, because we know Gen Z is craving nostalgia. A lot of that was interwoven in the films.”

“Can’t Believe We Met on Hinge” includes the vulnerability, awkwardness and frustration that goes into dating — like the experience of deleting the app and redownloading it — to authentically speak to the Gen Z dating experience. In that way, real couples sharing their stories, footage and photos with the brand resembles a modern version of The New York Times’ Vows column.

“People are finding their partners on Hinge and people also want to share their stories — the ups and downs, the twists and turns, all of it — because it is really important for us to showcase the honest truths of what people are navigating,” Young said. “That's been the foundation for all of our storytelling and I think it's also why Hinge continues to succeed and grow within a category that's steadily declining.”