BeReal Closes Series B Round of Funding
Founded only in 2019 by former GoPro employees Alexis Barreyat and Kévin Perreau, BeReal began to make the news for its earnest growth earlier this year, as its Gen Z user base sent the app climbing the App Store charts. The company is now in the news for closing a round of USD$60 million to put together funds in its fight against other big social media apps rushing to duplicate some of its no-frills features. The funding is coming in the form of a Series B, and values the Paris-based startup at a little over €600 million – which at today’s exchange is just under USD$ 637.5 million.
A source told TechCrunch that there are approximately 20 million daily active users, which indicates the app’s growing popularity amongst Gen Z and beyond, as the numbers have gone up from 7.9 million users as of July of this year. The numbers reflect that despite other more popular social apps’ deep pockets and technological agility, they are unable to reproduce the core of the BeReal experience.
Even though BeReal’s user base is only a small fraction of the user base that the juggernauts of social media attract, the pace at which BeReal is gaining traction among its key demographic of young adults has been a solid incentive for those other apps to pay attention to how they can bring the same kind of experience into their own platforms.
In April, Apptopia, an app intelligence firm, reported that BeReal had grown its installs by 315% year to date for its simple use-case model. BeReal, once a day, sends its user a notification encouraging them to take a dual photo, or a “BeReal,” i.e., they should take a combination of a selfie and a front-facing photo, snapped simultaneously, to display the user’s day-to-day life. The platform deletes these images after 24 hours, prompting the users to engage in the activity repeatedly. This experience is focused on providing the users with a more authentic photo feed compared to the curated aesthetic found on other social media apps. The features lured a range of investors, culminating in a $30 million Series A, co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and Accel in June 2021.
Image by https://unsplash.com/@joshwithers
Expertise
Insights
-
Technology
Cohere Joins Forces with Thales Canada to Advance Defence-Focused AI
Cohere Inc. (“Cohere”), a Toronto company focused on developing enterprise AI, announced its partnership with Thales Canada Inc. (“Thales”). Thales is a leader in advanced defence and digital… -
Technology
Canada’s C$358 million Defence Supply Chain Initiative Signals a Shift Toward Strategic Resilience
The federal government’s newly announced C$358 million initiative to strengthen Canada’s defence supply chain represents a decisive step toward fortifying the country’s sovereign and military… -
Technology
NASA’s Perseverance Rover Detects Evidence of Lightning on Mars
Scientists have detected what they believe are crackles of lightning on Mars. NASA’s Perseverance rover, which landed on Mars in February 2021, carries a microphone that picked up pops of small… -
Technology
Disney Partners with OpenAI to Bring Iconic Characters to Sora
The Walt Disney Company (“Disney”) has announced a three-year partnership with OpenAI, becoming the first major content licensing partner for Sora, OpenAI’s generative AI video platform. Under the… -
Technology
On Me Raises US$6 Million to Make Gift Cards Feel Personal Again
On Me, a digital gift-card startup founded by former Google employees, is helping people get the most out of their gift cards. Instead of limiting buyers to a single store, the startup sells digital… -
Technology
Three Canadian Companies Advance in Quantum Computing Program Backed by U.S. Military
Three Canadian companies participating in the Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI) have advanced to the program’s second stage. QBI is a research program backed by the U.S. military’s Defense…