US-based mobile community app provider Amino raised $19.2m on Thursday in a series B round led by GV, the corporate venturing subsidiary of conglomerate Alphabet.
Time Warner Investments, the strategic investment arm of mass media company Time Warner, also contributed funds to the round, as did Venrock, Union Square Ventures, Box Group and Goodwater Capital.
Amino operates more than 250 smartphone apps that each connect fans of a specific topic, such as Star Wars, football or comics. It also offers an app that enables anyone to create and manage their own community, and to date, more than 250,000 such communities have been launched.
The company will collaborate with Time Warner to strengthen its communities around the media company’s intellectual property. The round comes after Venrock led Amino’s $6.5m series A round in September 2015 with participation from Union Square Ventures and Box Group.
GV had previously taken part in a $1.65m seed round in 2014 that was also led by Venrock and backed by Union Square, Box Group, SV Angel, Slow Ventures, Launch Angels and several angel investors.
Allison Goldberg, managing director and vice-president of Time Warner Investments, said: “Amino provides one of the best social experiences for helping fans engage with each other about the topics and content they love.
“They already have fantastic communities for many of our properties including Game of Thrones, Harry Potter and Steven Universe, and we look forward to exploring a wide range of opportunities together following this strategic investment.”