Hornet Secures $8m In Series A Funding
Hornet raised the impressive sum in a funding round led by Ventech China, a $225m venture capital fund concentrated on m-commerce, communities and big data.
The $8m is expected to go towards supporting the company’s growth and help it continue the expansion of its global user base.
Eric Huet, Managing Partner at Ventech, said: “We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to invest in Hornet. The platform combined with the user functionality is unparalleled.
“In such a short time, Hornet has claimed leader position in many markets across the globe.”
As it stands, Hornet has a global user base of 15m and 3m MAUs, making it the second largest gay social network globally.
This impressive funding round comes shortly after the company acquired gay travel guide Vespa.
The merger saw Hornet integrate the directory into its social & dating network, improving the platform’s community aspect and helping it move further into the social space.
Vespa’s guide features over 5,000 venues in 300 cities across 70 countries, and includes event listings written by Vespa users and journalists from Hornet’s content provider Unicorn Booty.
With the acquisition, Vespa creator Christof Wittig, who co-founded Hornet back in 2011, returned to the company to take the position of CEO.
Speaking about the funding, Wittig said: “We are excited to work with our new investors to further our mission and engage our community.
“Hornet brings interaction and an experience that builds relationships and helps form meaningful connections to local communities. We will invest heavily into making our vision for a fully connected gay community a reality.”
The app recently launched version 3.0, revamping the app’s functionality by adding two new discovery tabs to the product.
To find out more about Hornet please click here.
