Dating application Bumble is preparing for an initial public offering as soon as early next year, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, about a year after Blackstone Group( BX ) - Get Reportbought a majority stake in the company.

Bumble could seek a valuation between $6 billion and $8 billion, Bloomberg's sources said, though no plans have been finalized and the timeline for the IPO could change.

Blackstone bought a majority stake in Bumble last year in a deal that valued the company, then called MagicLab, at $3 billion.

Bumble is a rival to Match Group( MTCH ) - Get Reportand its portfolio of dating apps such as Tinder, Match and OkCupid.

Two weeks ago, Airbnb submitted paperwork for an IPO, as a hot IPO market has been a bright spot in 2020.

The number of shares to be offered and the price range for Airbnb's proposed offering had not been determined when the company made its announcement.

Earlier this year, it was reported that Match Group had contacted rival Meet Group( MEET ) - Get Report about a possible takeover.

Match's market cap is about $21.31 billion vs. a market cap of about $400 million for Meet.

Competition in the dating app business is red hot, as big players such as Facebook( FB ) - Get Reportand Blackstone Group enter the fray.

Facebook recently debuted a new feature called Dating that it started testing this year that will allow Facebook users to meet new people, focusing "on long-term relationships -- not just hookups."

Market research firm IBISWorld reported that dating industry revenue increased by almost 50 percent from $1.9 billion in 2013 to $2.8 billion in 2017.

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