Zenly, a French startup that has created an app which allows you to share your location, has received $22.5 million from Benchmark. The announcement was revealed on Businessinsider, with numerous news outlets confirming the funding.
The app aims to make location sharing fun and exciting instead of borderline creepy.
Available in Europe, the app allows users to be able to share their location with their friends. The announcement is the second from the company after raising $11.2 million in May. Peter Fenton of Benchmark led the funding round and was also an early investor in Twitter and Yelp, among many other companies.
The app allows for up-to-date tracking of friends. Through the app, users will know what their friends are doing at any given minute. Teenagers have flocked to the app in an effort to stay connected and ensure they don’t miss out on the latest party or event they may not have heard about.
Zenly has become extremely popular in Europe, boasting over 1.7 million downloads and 1 million+ registered users.
Fast growth has allowed the company to secure funding, with growth numbers of 8% month-on-month being rumored. The app is expected to be built into a social network while maintaining its current feel for users.
Friends will open the app and when they look for you, the app will ping your phone to find your location.
The idea behind the app is that friends need to be searching for you to be updated on your location. This concept allows the app to be less intrusive than similar apps that continually update a user’s location, announcing their whereabouts to the world.
Fenton will be joining the board of Zenly, according to TechCrunch.
The company employs 35 workers and will use the latest funding round to open an office in San Francisco. The addition of Fenton will help the company ease their transition into San Francisco.
