Joya Communications

Joya Communications Inc. was established in 2012 by the husband-and-wife duo, Michal and Vlada Bortnik. The founding of the company was deeply rooted in their personal experiences and desire to foster meaningful connections, particularly after their two daughters were born. Vlada, who fled Ukraine as a refugee in 1990, brought over 15 years of experience from her software career at Microsoft, where she worked on products like MSN Messenger and Hotmail. Michal, originally from Poland, holds a Computer Science degree from Harvard and an MBA from Stanford, and also worked at Microsoft, where he pioneered social gaming for Xbox Live. Their shared challenge of staying in touch with family spread across the globe inspired them to create a tool to help people feel close.

The company's flagship product is Marco Polo, a video messaging application launched in 2016. It functions as a "video walkie-talkie," allowing users to send and receive video messages asynchronously, eliminating the need for real-time conversation scheduling. This model is designed for private, one-on-one or group conversations with close friends and family, focusing on authentic communication rather than the curated "highlight reel" common on other social media. The app is intentionally ad-free to maintain an intimate user experience. Key features include the ability to add voice filters and text to videos, watch messages live or later, and use reactions. Videos are stored on the company's servers, which minimizes storage use on a user's device. While the core service is free, Joya Communications introduced a premium subscription model which offers features like message storage for a monthly fee.

Operating as a fully remote company with its founders based in Palo Alto, California, Joya Communications has seen significant growth, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. The firm has successfully raised capital to support its operations, securing a $5 million Series A round in 2015 and a notable $20 million Series B in 2016, with total private equity raised reaching at least $27 million. Before developing Marco Polo, the company, formerly known as Happy Bits, created other apps, including Joya Video, which was named one of TIME Magazine's Top 50 Apps for 2013, and Cleo and FlipLip, which were part of Facebook's Messenger launch in 2015.

Keywords: video messaging, asynchronous communication, mobile application, social communication, family connection, subscription model, remote company, private social network, video chat, communication software