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§ Private Profile · New York City, NY, USA
Mobile social platform for users to create, discover, and join interest-based communities, enabling chat, blogs, and sharing for niche fandoms.
Based in New York City, Amino Apps operates a mobile-first social media platform that enables users to create and join highly specific, interest-based digital communities. Prior to its eventual acquisition, the company raised over $72 million in total venture funding across multiple rounds, including a $45 million Series C and a $19.2 million Series B. The platform scaled significantly during its independent operation, reaching more than 13 million total application downloads and hosting over 2.5 million distinct user-generated communities centered around niche pop culture fandoms like anime, K-pop, and gaming. Amino Apps secured financial backing from prominent institutional investors such as Union Square Ventures, GV, Venrock, and Time Warner Investments before being acquired by holding company MediaLab in 2021. The consumer internet company was originally founded in 2014 by co-founders Benjamin Anderson and Yin Wang.
Amino Apps has raised $73.0M across 4 funding rounds.
Amino Apps has raised $73.0M in total across 4 funding rounds.
Amino Apps has raised $73.0M in total across 4 funding rounds.
Amino Apps's investors include Blumberg Capital, CoinFund, Comcast Ventures, Dawn Capital, ENIAC Ventures, Entrée Capital Ventures, Forerunner Ventures, Goat Capital, Goodwater Capital, M.G. Siegler, GV, Mathias Schilling.
Amino Apps, developed by Narvii Inc., is a mobile-first social platform that builds a network of niche, interest-based communities where users connect over passions like anime, K-pop, gaming, and Minecraft[1][2][3][4]. It serves global fans, primarily teens and young adults aged 12+, by enabling content sharing (blogs, polls, quizzes), chats, live videos, and customization in topic-specific "Aminos," solving the problem of fragmented online communities in a mobile-native world[2][4][5][6]. Early growth was strong, with over 500,000 downloads across initial apps by 2014, and users averaging 70 minutes per session; the platform was acquired by MediaLab.AI in early 2021[1][2][6].
Amino Apps emerged in 2011-2012 when co-founders Ben Anderson (ex-PayPal, college entrepreneur) and Yin Wang attended an anime convention, spotting demand for mobile communities tailored to niche fandoms like Whovians, anime, and K-pop[1][3][6]. Starting as separate iOS apps (Android soon after) on a shared platform for rapid deployment, it networked communities with single login and deep linking, attracting Series A investment from Union Square Ventures, Google Ventures, SV Angel, and others[1][3]. Pivotal early traction included 500,000+ downloads across 10+ apps, evolving from app "constellations" to a unified portal while retaining standalone options[1][6].
Amino rides the mobile-first social networking trend, capitalizing on fandom consolidation in apps amid desktop-to-mobile shifts, where niche communities thrive over broad ones[1]. Timing aligned with 2010s app store dominance by giants, enabling "app constellations" to compete via specificity; market forces like rising K-pop/anime globalization and live video demand boosted it[1][2][4]. It influences the ecosystem by empowering user-led creativity, education, and global connections, prefiguring decentralized social models while integrating into MediaLab post-2021 acquisition[2][6].
Post-acquisition, Amino likely integrates deeper into MediaLab's AI-driven media tools, expanding live features, East Asian adaptations, and partnerships for sustained growth in niche social[2]. Trends like AI-moderation, AR fan experiences, and Web3 communities could amplify its ecosystem, evolving influence toward hybrid virtual hangouts. As mobile fandoms intensify, Amino's foundational bet on hyper-specific passion networks positions it to redefine immersive, global subcultures—echoing its convention-sparked origins in a more connected world.
Amino Apps has raised $73.0M across 4 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $45.0M Series C in June 2018.