Jacksonville-based Relevnt has secured about $2.5 million in recent funding related to its app that offers group messaging through an open network of public and private live audio-chat communities it calls “vibes."
The funding comes after the company, founded by Winder Hughes, made adjustments to the product including adding live audio chat
"After a period of time, we made some pivots and appended some innovations ... Now we're seeing traction," Hughes said. "We've sort of retooled some things to really be that next-level type of messaging app."
About $1.2 million of the new funding was in exchange for equity, Hughes told the Business Journal, and the other half – about $1.2 million – was convertible debt.
The Ponte Vedra-based startup, now valued at $25 million, went live on the app store back in 2017.
Relevnt is a group messaging-based app that allows user to join different conversations by interests and topics. Those chat communities, called vibes, can be public or private.
"We're really going after apps like GroupMe," Hughes said. "We have an open network, so you can discover things like chat rooms and there's no live audio on GroupMe, and even Discord – It's very complicated and it's not mobile friendly."
The open network allows users to search any topic and join any public conversation, or vibe, they find interesting or useful.
"If you went from Jacksonville to say Atlanta, you'll hit the local button and there you'll discover vibes in Atlanta in a way that you would never ever find on another app," he said.
Relevent is different from apps like GroupMe, he says. GroupMe, also a group messaging app, connects people via phone number and also allows the formation of group chats, but without being able to explore other conversations.
Hughes said while the target remains attracting users who use apps including GroupMe, the at-large target is college students who can continue to use the app even after graduating. He said he thinks that's often not the case with GroupMe, and most people delete it eventually.
He said he'd like to raise more money in the future, and continues to look at outside investors who are in Silicon Valley.
Relevnt has raised about $7 million since 2017, Hughes said, including the recent $2.5 million.
