Brian Nichols is the co-founder of Angel Squad, a community where you’ll learn how to angel invest and get a chance to invest as little as $1k into Hustle Fund's top performing early-stage startups.

Whitney Wolfe Herd isn't just the founder of Bumble. She's also quietly building an investment portfolio that reveals how successful operators think about the next generation of consumer and tech companies.

And here's what makes studying Whitney Wolfe Herd investments interesting: she's not your typical VC writing checks from a fund. She's an operator who built a company from zero to IPO, and her investment decisions reflect that hands-on experience.

Let me break down what we can learn from her approach.

Who is Whitney Wolfe Herd?

Before we get into the investment side, let's recap the basics. Whitney co-founded Tinder in 2012, left in 2014, and launched Bumble later that year. By 2021, she took Bumble public at a $13 billion valuation, becoming the youngest female CEO to take a company public in the US.

But what's less talked about is what she's been doing with her capital since then. Whitney has been making strategic investments in companies that align with her thesis about where consumer behavior and technology are heading.

And unlike some celebrity investors who just write checks for the PR value, Whitney seems genuinely engaged with the companies she backs.

What's Whitney's Investment Thesis?

Based on public information about Whitney Wolfe Herd investments, a few clear themes emerge:

Female-founded companies: This one's obvious, but it matters. Whitney has been vocal about the funding gap for female founders and puts her money where her mouth is. She's invested in companies like Mahmee (maternal health) and Blume (period care).

Consumer brands with authentic missions: Whitney gravitates toward companies that aren't just building products but movements. Think brands that have a clear point of view about how the world should work and aren't afraid to be polarizing.

Technology that changes behavior: Bumble fundamentally changed how people approach dating by putting women in control. The companies Whitney backs often have similar behavior-change elements built in.

Breaking Down Specific Whitney Wolfe Herd Investments

Let's look at some actual investments and what they tell us:

Mahmee

Whitney invested in Mahmee, a maternal and infant care platform. On the surface, this looks like a standard health tech play. But dig deeper and you see why it fits her thesis.

Mahmee is tackling a massive problem (maternal health outcomes, especially for women of color) with technology that changes how care is delivered. It's mission-driven, focused on an underserved market, and has real revenue potential through partnerships with health systems.

Sound familiar? That's basically the Bumble playbook applied to healthcare.

Blume

Period care products might not seem like a tech play, but Blume (which Whitney backed) is using direct-to-consumer channels and community building to reimagine how young women think about their periods.

Again, we see the pattern: take something that's been stigmatized or awkward, build a brand that makes it empowering instead, and create products that serve an underserved audience.

Other Strategic Bets

Whitney has also invested in companies like Rent the Runway and Guild Education. These aren't random picks. Both companies are reimagining traditional industries (fashion retail and corporate education) with models that give consumers more control and flexibility.

What Makes Whitney's Approach Different?

Here's what separates Whitney Wolfe Herd investments from your typical angel investor:

She understands community building at scale: Bumble wasn't successful because it had better technology than Tinder. It succeeded because Whitney built a community around a new way of thinking about dating. The companies she invests in often have similar community-first approaches.

She knows how to navigate controversy: Bumble faced criticism when it launched. Some people loved the "women make the first move" concept. Others hated it. But that polarization helped Bumble cut through the noise. Whitney invests in companies that aren't afraid to take a stance, even if it alienates some people.

She thinks about business models, not just products: Too many consumer investors get caught up in whether a product is "cool" and forget to ask how it makes money. Whitney built a dating app that generates real revenue (through subscriptions and advertising), and she looks for that same pragmatism in her investments.

What Can Early-Stage Investors Learn?

Studying Whitney Wolfe Herd investments has taught me a few things that apply to angel investing more broadly:

1. Invest in Markets You Understand Deeply

Whitney invests in companies serving women, young consumers, and people navigating major life transitions (dating, career changes, starting families). These are markets she understands from personal experience.

For us as early-stage investors, this means focusing on industries where we have genuine expertise. Not just "I used an app once" expertise, but deep understanding of customer pain points, buying behavior, and competitive dynamics.

2. Look for Founders Who Are Mission-Driven

Every company Whitney backs seems to have a clear mission beyond just making money. That's not touchy-feely BS. Mission-driven companies attract better talent, build stronger communities, and have clearer differentiation.

When we're evaluating founders, we should ask: why is this person uniquely positioned to care about this problem? If the answer is just "I saw a market opportunity," that's a red flag.

3. Consumer Brands Need More Than Good Products

Here's something Whitney clearly understands: in consumer markets, your brand is your moat. Products can be copied. Brand loyalty and community can't.

The companies she invests in aren't just building better products. They're building movements. That's a much more defensible position.

4. Think About Second-Order Effects

Bumble didn't just change dating. It changed how people think about gender dynamics in relationships. That's a second-order effect, and it's what made Bumble culturally relevant beyond just being another dating app.

Whitney invests in companies with similar second-order effects. Period care that reduces stigma. Maternal health platforms that address racial disparities. These aren't just business opportunities. They're cultural shifts.

The Bottom Line for Angel Investors

Whitney Wolfe Herd's approach to investing isn't complicated. She backs mission-driven founders building consumer brands in markets she understands. She looks for companies that can change behavior and culture, not just sell products.

But simple doesn't mean easy. The hard part is having the conviction to back founders who are doing things differently, even when it's controversial. The hard part is being patient enough to let companies build real value over 5-10 years. The hard part is staying focused on markets where you have genuine expertise instead of chasing every hot sector.

If you're looking to connect with other early-stage investors who take a similarly disciplined approach to backing founders, Angel Squad brings together operators who are focused on being genuinely helpful to the companies they invest in.

Key takeaways for early-stage investors:

• Invest in markets where you have deep, personal expertise
• Look for founders who are mission-driven, not just opportunistic
• Consumer brands need strong communities, not just good products
• Think about second-order cultural effects, not just first-order product benefits
• Be patient with exit timelines

Whitney's success with Bumble came from understanding her customers deeply and building a product that served them in a fundamentally different way. Her approach to investing follows the same playbook. And whether you're writing $100k checks or $10k checks, that's a framework that works at any stage of angel investing.