Location-sharing app Zenly has just announced an impressive round of Series B funding, securing $22.5m.
Raised in 28 days, the investment was led by renowned VC firm Benchmark, making Zenly the only European business to receive funding from the Silicon Valley VC.
Zenly is a social media networking app that lets users chat to friends and family, as well as safely sharing their location, so users can “arrange meet ups, find friends at large events and festivals, and reassure others of their safety.”
Following the investment, Benchmark’s Peter Fenton, who is board member at Twitter and investor in Snapchat and Facebook, has announced he will also be joining the Zenly board.
Fenton said: “We were immediately won over by the team’s wealth of technical expertise and their vision for the map as a basis for a vast array of social engagement.
“Being able to see where your friends are and who they are with opens up a world of product opportunities, and if executed successfully, Zenly could be one of the iconic companies of our lifetime.”
The team behind Zenly spent 18 months working out how to make sure it would not severely reduce user battery life – a factor it considered a key downside to many other location sharing apps.
And now, the app boasts a user base of 2m and lists four main advantages over its competitors – its ability to see your friends walking around on a continuous basis, being able to precisely pinpoint location, consume “5 to 10 times” less battery life, as well as being available on iOS and Android.
Among the other investors is Jerry Murdock, Insight Venture Partners co-founder, who said: “I love Zenly because it gives me a new context in which to have a conversation, but I invested in the company because of Antoine and Alexis’ complete vision.
“It is quite rare to meet entrepreneurs who possess equal amounts of thoughtfulness and passion.”
And with the funding, Zenly is hoping to open a new office in San Francisco and expand the platform’s reach across the globe.
This news follows the app’s Series A funding of $11.2m which it received in May.
To find out more about Zenly please click here.