Yubo Raises $47.5 Million: The Next Big Social App?

The French company Yubo is a rapidly growing social media platform that remains largely unknown to those outside its core demographic: teenagers. Catering to a young audience under the age of 25, Yubo has successfully attracted a user base of 40 million individuals. A portion of these users actively participate in live-streaming rooms, connect with others, and purchase additional features.

Notably, Yubo’s business model diverges from reliance on advertising revenue. Instead, users can acquire items or subscribe to the service for enhanced functionality. The company projects revenue of $20 million for the current year, representing a doubling of its earnings compared to 2019.

Yubo has recently completed a Series C funding round, securing $47.5 million in investment. Previous investors, including Idinvest Partners, Iris Capital, Alven, and Sweet Capital, participated again in this round. Gaia Capital Partners is a new addition to the investor group. Jerry Murdock of Insight Partners will join the company’s board, though he did not directly invest in this round.

Yubo distinguishes itself as a social media application designed to challenge prevailing trends within the industry. Unlike many platforms, it does not allow users to follow one another or “like” content.

As demonstrated repeatedly in the past, the introduction of features like following, liking, and algorithmic recommendations often transforms a social network into a performance-based environment. A small segment of users becomes content creators, while the majority primarily consume content. This dynamic leads to the emergence of influencers who dominate user attention, a pattern observed on platforms such as Vine, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, TikTok, and even LinkedIn.

Yubo’s objective is not to cultivate performers but to facilitate connections, enable shared activities, and foster new friendships. It aims to replicate the experience of socializing with peers outside of a traditional school setting.

Upon launching the app, users are presented with a selection of rooms they can join. Users can broadcast live video from their devices and engage in conversations with others. Rooms are categorized based on interests, such as local communities, political discussions, or gaming activities.

The platform intentionally avoids creating large rooms dominated by a few individuals and massive viewerships, and it does not incorporate a tipping system like Twitch.

“In 95% of rooms, there are only streamers present. Rooms typically host between 5 and 10 people,” explained Sacha Lazimi, co-founder and CEO.

Users can establish connections with others and communicate through in-app messaging. Additionally, the app features a “swipe” mechanism, similar to Tinder, for discovering new friends based on profile browsing.

“We reached 25 million registered users in December. Currently, we have surpassed 40 million users,” Lazimi stated. The majority of the user base is located in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and France.

User engagement is also on the rise, with the total time spent in live rooms increasing by 400% compared to the previous year.

In-app purchases and subscriptions unlock additional features. These include boosting live streams, promoting profiles on the Swipe page, and featuring profiles prominently within the online section. These options aim to increase room participation, message reception, and overall interaction.

“We believe this represents the future of monetization for social platforms. Focusing on advertising places you in direct competition with companies like Facebook, TikTok, and Snap,” Lazimi commented.

Given its young user base, Yubo prioritizes safety and moderation. The company has made substantial investments in real-time moderation processes and enforces strict guidelines. During registration, Yubo verifies user identities to ensure appropriate age categorization.

“We analyze all content, both in terms of its meaning and visual elements,” Lazimi explained. The company is currently developing alert pop-ups to notify users when their behavior may be inappropriate in real-time.

Yubo employs dedicated safety professionals and collaborates with external contractors, offering connections to local support services. Approximately one-third of the company’s investments are allocated to safety initiatives, and the platform currently supports 36 languages.

The recent funding will enable Yubo to expand its team, which currently consists of 30 employees across offices in Paris, London, and Jacksonville. Recognizing the app’s reach, Yubo plans to establish a new office in New York.

Regarding product development, Yubo is working on recommendation algorithms and plans to integrate YouTube functionality, allowing users to view YouTube content directly within rooms. The company is also partnering with Snap to incorporate Camera Kit, enabling the creation of custom augmented reality lenses for its users.