just.me
closedJust.me is a free mobile messaging platform that brings the functionality of the camera app, video capture, voice messages, texting, email and other messaging apps all into one powerful application.
| Date | Investors | Amount | Round |
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| - | investor investor investor investor investor | €0.0 | round |
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| N/A | $50.0k | Seed | |
| Total Funding | 000k | ||
just.me was a mobile-first social messaging application that launched in 2011, positioning itself as a unified platform to consolidate communication. The company was founded by Keith Teare, a serial entrepreneur with a background that includes co-founding notable tech companies like EasyNet, RealNames, and TechCrunch. Teare's inspiration for just.me stemmed from the rise of the iPhone and the idea of leveraging the mobile address book as a decentralized alternative to platforms like Facebook, giving users greater control over their data and sharing.
The Palo Alto-based startup entered a highly competitive market, aiming to replace multiple communication apps by integrating features of social messaging and social media. The application allowed users to send text, photos, videos, and audio messages, which were organized on a personal timeline. A key differentiator was its ability for users to send messages to anyone in their address book, regardless of whether the recipient had the just.me app installed. Additionally, it offered a "private cloud" for users to store their multimedia content. The service was free to use and intended to monetize through value-added services rather than advertising, a practice Teare strongly opposed.
just.me secured $3.5 million in funding from investors including Google Ventures, Khosla Ventures, SV Angel, betaworks, and Hercules Capital. The application was initially launched for iPhone and later expanded to Android and an HTML5 web app. Despite its efforts to capture a significant user base and reaching 250,000 users by mid-2013, the company ultimately could not sustain its operations. In November 2013, just.me filed for bankruptcy and underwent liquidation, marking the end of its journey in the competitive social networking space.
Keywords: mobile messaging, social networking app, Keith Teare, private cloud storage, unified communication, address book integration, multimedia messaging, TechCrunch co-founder, Google Ventures, Khosla Ventures, social media alternative, user data control, private messaging, public broadcasting, mobile communication platform, iOS app, Android app, HTML5 web app, startup bankruptcy, entertainment software