Boston’s Amino, a startup powering mobile-only communities for niche interests, banked a Series A round worth $1.65 million on Tuesday from Union Square Ventures, Google Ventures, SV Angel, Box Group, Kal Vepuri and Slow Ventures, according to a blog post by Union Square Ventures partner Andy Weissman.
The startup currently offers more than 14 communities, each of which exists as a separate app under the Amino umbrella, and targets a wide breadth of individuals, from Whovians to dog lovers. An important edge of the company is that all of its apps are internally integrated, meaning that a user need only set up one log-in and profile. The framework is also inherently designed for quick and easy deployment. In other words, we could be seeing dozens more Amino-powered apps hit the App Store soon.
The company, formerly known as Narvii, was spun out of a Northeastern co-op by Ben Anderson and Yin Wang in PayPal Media Network's marketing department under the vise of former Where and PayPal Media Network marketing leader Dan Gilmartin. Amino then staked out space in PayPal’s Start Tank in 2013, where it rolled out its platform designed to bring users with shared passions and hobbies together.
In early 2014, Amino was accepted into and participated in Techstars Boston’s spring class. Come Demo Day, the startup dropped some impressive statistics on user growth and engagement on the crowd. Anderson reported that Amino saw active users staying on the made-for-mobile platform for around 20 minutes, returning on an average of six times daily. At the time, around 47 percent of those users were also contributing content by posting to forums and creating their personal collections within their interests. In total, Amino’s apps have been downloaded more than 500,000 times since the initial launch.
Amino is currently only available for iOS, but has plans to move into Android soon, according to Weissman’s blog post. Added Weissman:
This mobile architecture - app constellations, if you will - is an important part of the Amino thesis: that for communities on mobile devices, hyper specific is of more value than general; that a series of apps is of more value than one; and that people are looking to build online relationships through the phone now, not just on the computer.
The startup quietly raised a seed round just under $400,000 in 2013, from notable Boston investors, including Joe Caruso, Semyon Dukach, Michael Dornbrook and Will Herman.
Writer's Note: We've confirmed with Ben Anderson that the round was Series A and worth $1.65 million.
Images via Amino
