Frankly is a mobile app that enables ephemeral text messaging, with messages that self-destruct after 10 seconds and links that allow non‑users to view messages via a web page. The company has grown its user base to over 1.7 million, having doubled in the past six months, and currently ranks #256 in the Social Networking category on iTunes (U.S.). Frankly has a 20-person team and says it will use new funding to aggressively hire. With the additional capital, Frankly is launching a customizable social chat SDK for other apps and is already working on integrations with global brands. CEO Steve Chung expects to announce a major brand partner within 30 days and to book its first (small) revenues this year. Investors appear focused on selling Frankly’s technology via the SDK as much as consumer growth. Frankly is an ephemeral messaging app that lets users send short text messages that vanish after 10 seconds. Unlike Snapchat, Frankly focuses on text rather than photos or video. The app’s recent update adds controls to express emotion via text, including pinch-to-resize text and swipe-to-change background color. CEO Steve Chung says the team wanted to provide "a full set of tools to communicate with your emotions via text." The company has a team of about 20 and is funded with $6 million in backing from South Korea’s SK Planet.

Total raised

$19M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Oct 2014