British startup Tagstr recently closed a deal of $1 million in seed funding (Update – July 2023: The startup seems to be no longer in business under this website, and we therefore deactivated the original link). This brings their total funding to $2.6 million; all investments to date have come from high net worth individuals and will be used to build partnerships and further develop the platform.
With over 500,000 downloads and 20 million uploads, Tagstr is a social media platform with a twist. The free platform lets people share media, including images, audio and video, using ‘hashtagged’ themes, rather than using Instagram’s follower-based model.
Tagstr doesn’t require users to have friends or followers – people all over the world can easily share and discover their passions and interests through high quality images, audio and video. By assigning hashtags, the community can view all media from particular events and on certain themes, in one easily accessible shared experience.
Michael Venn, CEO and founder of Tagstr said: “Tagstr was started to shake up the online sharing landscape. We wanted to provide a social sanctuary for people to share experiences, interests and passions whatever they are into, from graffiti to goalkeeping, cocktails to canal boats. We wanted to offer a platform where people could get the bigger picture.”
“You need to be ‘socially connected’ to build media together everywhere else, but on Tagstr you don’t have to be friends or follow people to see their content,” Venn continued.
There have been several updates to the platform in recent months, including the ability to upload multiple files at the same time, full-screen view and swipe through, as well as a new Explore page that lets users view trending hashtags, popular posts and posts near them. Tagstr is also now available on Apple Watch.
Access to a rich source of design and developer talent means that Tagstr is not battling other startups in London. The startup is strategically based in Cheltenham where the University of Gloucestershire supports the companies recruitment needs.
By the way: You can find out about other interesting startups from the UK in this list.
