YouNow, a live social network that “connects audiences and broadcasters in real time,” said it has secured $15 million round of funding led by current backers Venrock and Oren Zeev. Comcast Ventures also joined the round as a new investor, said YouNow, which has raised about $26 million, according to CrunchBase.
YouNow, which competes in some ways with Periscope and Meercat, claims to have 100 million user sessions a month and handles more than 50,000 hours of new live-video content created every day. On average, the daily user of Younow spends 51 minutes per day on the platform, the company said.
YouNow, which has developed apps for iOS and Android, has a Go Live option that lets users broadcast video to their audiences, along with a discovery tool to find YouTube and Vine stars. Audiences are rewarded through in-app “virtual good purchases.”
"The addition of Comcast Ventures to our family of backers underscores our success in building a real-time social network that fulfills the needs of a younger, digitally savvy generation that is eager to participate in media and not just consume it,” YouNow founder and CEO Adi Sideman, said in a statement.
"YouNow has struck a chord with young audiences who crave and are increasingly willing to pay for real-time video-based interactivity,” added Sam Landman, managing director at Comcast Ventures. “YouNow's virtual goods economy is enabling the most dedicated creators to build rewarding careers on the social network, based entirely on their talents. We're excited to support the team and their vision.”
