Secret is a mobile app that lets users share short, anonymous notes with people in their network. The product emphasizes anonymity while connecting friends and friends-of-friends, and it has added features such as Facebook login and a curated "Collections" digest. The company has expanded beyond iOS to Android, opened to users outside the U.S., and added location-based discovery to surface nearby secrets. Secret says it is not disclosing user numbers but describes growth in the U.S. and in markets like the Netherlands, Russia and China as "promising and exciting." The team is focused on continuing growth and engagement over the next six months while adding tools for curation and moderation, including user flagging and prompts to encourage kinder posts. The startup was co-founded by ex-Googlers Chrys Bader-Wechseler and David Byttow. Secret is an anonymous social app that allows people to post messages to their phone‑contact circles without attaching their identity. It launched at the end of January and is currently available only on iOS in the U.S. and Canada. The app has added features such as social sharing, nearby gossip, and themed online message boards (including an SXSW board), signaling moves beyond strictly closed, contact‑only sharing. Early traction included a peak App Annie rank of No. 16 in social networking (130 overall) and a March 8 rank of 81 (1,143 overall). The founders are David Byttow and Chrys Bader‑Wechseler, and the company reports roughly 10%–20% of users create content. Secret has begun implementing moderation measures (quarantining posts and removing lewd content) as it considers product and commercial opportunities. Secret is a mobile app that lets users share anonymous posts primarily with friends, positioning itself as a space for more vulnerable and candid expression. Founders David Mark Byttow and Chrys Bader-Wechseler emphasize that while individual identities are hidden, the audience is often friends or friends-of-friends, which the company says increases empathy and curiosity. The app draws comparisons to Frank Warren’s PostSecret and Sequoia-backed Whisper but differentiates itself by focusing on friend networks rather than total anonymity. Secret builds in privacy safeguards: contacts are hashed so raw phone numbers are not sent for matching, each secret has no viewable history tied to a single user, and metadata is stored without referencing individual users. The founders say the community has been surprisingly non-trollish, with users giving advice and showing camaraderie. Financially, the company has raised $1.4 million from investors including Kleiner Perkins, Google Ventures, Initialized Capital (Alexis Ohanian and Garry Tan), Index Ventures, Matrix Partners, SV Angel and Fuel Capital.

Total raised

$36M

Funding rounds

3

Latest round

Series B

Latest activity

Jul 2014