Qui.lt
Real-time scrapbook where users can share their memories with friends.
| Date | Investors | Amount | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
$510k | Seed | ||
| Total Funding | 000k | ||
Nerd Swagger, Inc., doing business as Qui.lt, was established in 2011 by co-founders Austin Cooley, Niko Cunningham, and Shane Mooney in San Francisco. The company positioned itself in the social media market with a mobile application described as a "real-time digital scrapbook". This platform was designed to offer a more intimate space for close friends and family to collaboratively document and archive shared life moments through text, photos, audio, and video.
The founding team brought a diverse set of experiences to the venture. Niko Cunningham, an alumnus of Columbia University with a BA in Economics and Harvard University with an Ed.M in Technology, Innovation, and Education, had a background in startups, including roles at the Kauffman Foundation and as a co-founder of other ventures. Austin Cooley was a collegiate basketball player, having played at Niagara University where he was enrolled in the academic exploration program. This background in team dynamics and a different competitive field likely offered a distinct perspective. Shane Mooney's background is less detailed in available sources but was integral to the founding trio.
Qui.lt's business model focused on providing a free-to-use application, available on both Apple's App Store and the Google Play Store, to attract a user base, initially targeting the highly engaged college demographic. The platform's core functionality allowed users to create multiple "Quilts" for various relationships or occasions, which were private by default but offered options to share content more broadly. The service aimed to address a perceived gap in the market for more private, group-oriented storytelling, in contrast to the broad-audience broadcast model of other social networks. The company secured $500,000 in a seed funding round led by Energent Ventures, with notable participation from angel investors including Facebook co-founder Andrew McCollum, who also served as an advisor.
Keywords: digital scrapbook, collaborative memory keeping, private social network, shared experiences, mobile storytelling, group archiving, family and friends app, photo sharing, video sharing, audio memories, Nerd Swagger Inc, Austin Cooley, Niko Cunningham, Shane Mooney, Andrew McCollum, intimate social media