US-based social media network Shots has closed a $8.5m series A round from investors including the corporate venturing arm of sports organisation Major League Baseball, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The round was led by venture capital firm WI Harper and also featured Launch Fund, Upfront Ventures, 500 Startups and music producer Rodney Jerkins.
Shots provides a mobile app to stake photo and three-second video selfies, or self portrait photographs. The social media network’s audience has an average user age of 16 and is strongly affiliated with singer Justin Bieber, who is an active user having led the app’s second seed round.
To reduce bullying, the app does not show any follower counts and does not allow public comments. Users can send direct messages to each other, but they must be in the form of selfies rather than text.
Shots originally launched as a mobile games developer called RockLive, raising $1.6m in seed funding from investment firm Nala Investments and angel investors Shervin Pishevar and Tom McInerney in 2012.
The company pivoted and renamed itself in 2013, raising the Bieber-led round, which also featured Pishevar, McInerney and boxer Floyd Mayweather.
China-based WI Harper intends to help Shots expand into its home market in the coming years, and the company also plans to develop a dedicated app for the Apple Watch.
Shots will use the series A funding to hire more engineers and establish a dedicated team who will tailor the app for smartphones popular with teenagers. The company will also develop a dedicated app for the Apple Watch.