Rounds, founded in 2008 as Gixoo and later launching 6rounds, offers iOS and Android apps that focus on synchronous, shared video experiences for groups of up to 12 people. The product emphasizes interactivity beyond video—watching YouTube, playing games, and using video effects—with the company reporting that 94% of calls include some interactive element. Rounds says it has 25 million registered users, with the vast majority joining in recent months after a “100 percent shift to mobile.” More than 30% of sessions are longer than three minutes, which the company calls “meaningful.” The Android app is highlighted as particularly lightweight (8.8 MB). Management plans to use new funding for product development, research, business development, and continued international growth, while simplifying session start-up and adding more content and interaction features. Rounds is a social video chat app for Facebook and the web that lets users video chat and engage in shared activities such as watching YouTube, playing interactive games, drawing on whiteboards, browsing together and sending virtual gifts. The product includes over 30 games and activities created by a dozen developer partners and recently added a "Friends of Friends" feature to connect users with their friends' friends. This week the company is debuting native Windows and Mac desktop applications so users can send and receive video calls without a browser or visiting Facebook. Rounds is backed by $5.5 million in funding from Verizon Investments, Rhodium, DFJ’s Tim Draper and other angels; it previously raised a $3 million round announced in November 2011. Operating metrics reported in the article include over 5 million registered users, about 1 million monthly actives (the company cites ~980,000 while AppData reports 790,000), roughly 100,000 daily actives, and over 500 million video chat sessions since inception. Users spend over 40 minutes on average in the app, and roughly 900,000 of the daily sessions come from the platform's "Meet New People" feature rather than connections between friends or friends-of-friends. Rounds offers an online “communitainment” platform that combines video chat with social games and shared media experiences. The service includes over 20 games and activities and allows users to play with webcam effects, collaboratively watch YouTube, draw on whiteboards, send virtual gifts, write texts, and browse websites together. The company launched an API in May 2010 to enable third‑party developers to build additional games and experiences. The free platform already has more than three million users and over 650,000 daily Rounds sessions. Rounds will use new funding to extend the platform beyond its popular Facebook application to other consumer social networks and to mobile devices. The company also plans to develop more premium games and activities. Rounds (formerly 6rounds) offers a consumer-focused video chat product that layers games, real-time visual effects, Flickr photo sharing, YouTube viewing, virtual gifts, and branded experiences on top of live video. The company launched a Facebook application called Video Chat Rounds that brings these interactive features to Facebook users. Many in-app effects and virtual gifts are initially free and earned via ‘coins’ earned through activity, with plans to charge for a subset of items over time. Rounds also intends to generate revenue by enabling advertisers to create branded experiences (the article cites a Heineken-sponsored Truth Or Dare example). The platform supports third-party developer integrations for both the web and Facebook applications. The company was founded in 2008 and is based in Tel Aviv, Israel; it has to date raised $2 million in venture capital funding.

Total raised

$23M

Funding rounds

4

Latest round

Series B

Latest activity

Jan 2015