SINGAPORE - March 15, 2021 -- Match Group (NASDAQ: MTCH), Tinder’s parent company, announced today that it has made a significant contribution to Garbo -- a female-founded, first-of-its-kind, non-profit background check platform. Garbo provides historical information about violence and abuse to empower people to make more informed decisions and choices about their safety. In an industry-first, Match Group will make Garbo’s platform accessible to its users in the U.S., integrating on Tinder later this year. The investment will also be used to accelerate Garbo’s scale and adoption across technology platforms, seeking to supplement a flawed justice system that has adversely impacted women and marginalized communities.
Garbo, founded in 2018 by Kathryn Kosmides, a survivor of gender-based violence, aims to help proactively prevent gender-based violence by providing people with more transparency and information about whomever they connect with. Garbo provides low-cost background checks by collecting public records and reports of violence or abuse, including arrests, convictions, restraining orders, harassment, and other violent crimes. This valuable information, which is typically offered by for-profit companies, has historically been difficult to access and cost prohibitive. As a non-profit, Garbo democratizes access to information, allowing people to make more informed safety decisions.
“For far too long women and marginalized groups in all corners of the world have faced many barriers to resources and safety,” said Tracey Breeden, Head of Safety and Social Advocacy for Match Group. “We recognize corporations can play a key role in helping remove those barriers with technology and true collaboration rooted in action. In partnership with Match Group, Garbo’s thoughtful and groundbreaking consumer background check will enable and empower users with information, helping create equitable pathways to safer connections and online communities across tech.”
Garbo works closely with racial equity and gender justice groups, knowing that there is inequity in the experiences of people of color in the criminal legal system and across society. As part of its active stance toward equity, Garbo excludes arrests related to drug possession and traffic violations, which have a disproportionate impact on marginalized groups.
“Before Garbo, abusers were able to hide behind expensive, hard-to-find public records and reports of their violence; now that’s much harder,” said Kathryn Kosmides, Founder and CEO of Garbo. “Being able to reach historically underserved populations is fundamental to Garbo’s mission and the partnership with Match will help us connect with these communities.”
Match Group will begin testing and building out capabilities for Garbo on Tinder in the coming months. Once Garbo is adopted on Tinder later this year, other Match Group U.S. brands will follow. Additional details on implementation will be available over the next several months.
The Garbo partnership is part of Match Group's commitment to investing in the latest technology and third-party expertise to combat bad actors and empower users with tools to help keep them safer. In December 2020, Match Group announced a groundbreaking partnership with RAINN, the nation's largest anti-sexual violence organization, to conduct a comprehensive review of sexual misconduct reporting, moderation, and response across Match Group's dating platforms. The company also added to the expertise of its Match Group Advisory Council (MGAC) last summer with the addition of Alphonso David, President of the Human Rights Campaign, and Natalie Ludaway, the former Chief Deputy Attorney General for the District of Columbia. The MGAC represents an industry-leading group of experts and advocates involved in the study and prevention of sexual assault, abuse, online harassment, and related issues.
“Garbo is a tool to address the inequities and barriers to access that people have traditionally had with background checks,” said MGAC Member Natalie Ludaway. “Match Group’s partnership with Garbo is a real, meaningful step towards giving people access to information that can help make a real difference in their safety decisions.”
For more information about Garbo, please visit https://www.garbo.io/
About Match Group
Match Group (NASDAQ: MTCH), through its portfolio companies, is a leading provider of dating services available globally. Our portfolio of brands includes Tinder®, Match®, Meetic®, OkCupid®, Hinge®, Pairs™, PlentyOfFish®, and OurTime®, as well as a number of other brands, each designed to increase our users' likelihood of finding a meaningful connection. Through our portfolio companies and their trusted brands, we provide tailored services to meet the varying preferences of our users. Our services are available in over 40 languages to our users all over the world.
About Garbo
Garbo is a not-for-profit consumer online background check platform that provides more accountability, transparency, and access to information to help proactively prevent gender-based violence.
For further information:
Match Group Corporate Communications
Garbo Communications
