Vingle
Interest-based community platform available via mobile and web, where users can mingle together through shared interests.
| Date | Investors | Amount | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| - | investor investor investor | €0.0 | round |
| investor investor investor | €0.0 | round | |
N/A | Series A | ||
| Total Funding | 000k | ||
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Vingle was a social networking platform centered around user interests, founded on October 21, 2011, by Changseong Ho and Jiwon Moon. The duo, who previously created and sold the global video streaming site Viki for $200 million, leveraged their experience in building community-driven platforms. Ho, a Stanford MBA graduate, and Moon, a Harvard graduate, aimed to expand on the community concept of Viki, which focused on crowdsourced subtitles for TV and movies, by creating a space for a wider array of interest groups.
The company's platform was designed as an interactive social marketplace where individuals with shared passions could connect, join communities, and share content. Initially a South Korean website, Vingle transitioned to iOS and Android apps in 2014, which fueled its international growth. By late 2014, the platform had four million monthly visitors from 105 countries, with content available in twenty-six languages across approximately 3,000 interest-focused communities. Users, or 'Vinglers', would select their interests upon joining, which allowed the platform's algorithm to curate a personalized feed of content, a key feature that differentiated it from other social networks. Content was shared in the form of "cards" which could include text, images, and videos.
Vingle's business model included offering a channel for brands and companies to organically promote their products and services to highly targeted audiences. Because users' interests were explicitly declared and analyzed, the platform could offer precise "Laser Targeting" for native advertising, which was more effective than broader social media marketing. The company secured Series A funding in 2012 from K Cube Ventures and another round in August 2014, raising a total of $1.5 million from investors including Kakao Ventures. Despite its initial rapid growth and user engagement, Vingle eventually ceased operations.
Keywords: interest-based social network, community platform, social marketplace, content sharing, Viki founders, Changseong Ho, Jiwon Moon, user-generated content, online communities, social content platform, targeted advertising, mobile social app, global community, social networking service, crowdsourcing projects