Joel Simkhai


Joel Simkhai is an Israeli-American tech entrepreneur. He is the founder and former CEO of geosocial networking and dating apps Grindr and Blendr. His original goal in starting Grindr was for people with similar interests to find new friends nearby.

Life and career

Simkhai was born in Tel Aviv, Israel. His mother sold jewelry, and his father was a diamond dealer. When he was three years old, his family moved to New York City. He received his bachelor of arts degree in International Relations & Economics from Tufts University in May 1998. After starting college, he came out to himself and his parents. While his father accepted the news immediately, his mother took more time, but later becoming proud of her son and how famous he has become. He has two brothers, who are also gay.
After college, he worked in mergers and acquisitions.
While he started with little money or expertise and never expected Grindr to become international, he became a multimillionaire CEO of an app with millions of users worldwide. In January 2018, he left Grindr after the company was sold to Kunlun Group Limited.
Simkhai is a charter member of the Young Presidents' Organization.
He owns several properties, primarily residing in Los Angeles.