We all know the feeling when we post a funny video on TikTok, expect a response from a friend, and then receive a basic laughing emoji, or worse, no reaction at all. Visible The company aims to solve this problem through its new social application, where friends record a live video interaction with the content you send to them.
The video messaging app, available on iOS devices, was co-founded by veteran entrepreneur Fahim Kaji and actress Karen Gillan, best known for her role as Nebula in the film “Guardians of the Galaxy.”
With Seen, you can send videos in private, one-on-one iMessages or in group conversations with up to 11 people. When content is sent to recipients, they must record a video of themselves, which is viewed only by the sender and friends involved in the group chat. The sender then has to reciprocate with a video of themselves reacting to their friend’s reaction. The company hopes that its application will create a real and engaging way to interact with friends.
One of the main features of the app is TikTok integration, allowing you to share videos with your friends on Seen directly from the TikTok app. The app also offers a scrollable feed of popular TikTok videos as well as the ability to upload videos from your iPhone’s camera roll. Integrations with YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels will be offered in the future.
It was launched on App Store earlier this month and already has thousands of users. The company said it plans to roll out an Android version soon, but did not share a specific launch date.
“Our overall goal is to create a platform that helps people connect with each other in a very real way,” Kaji told TechCrunch. “[Sharing video reactions] Better than just getting a thumbs up. It prompts a broader conversation, and there’s a sense of results from seeing someone’s reaction.
Kaji is the co-founder of three other startups: a beverage company MomentE-commerce platform The initial social and fashion app (formerly Basash) was found. At the same time, this will be the first time that Ceylan has founded a technology startup.
“[Gillan] “She was involved in both the actual conception and the nitty-gritty process, which was amazing and very unexpected for a major Hollywood actress…Karen is really helpful with distribution stuff,” Kaji said.
In addition to having a movie star as a founder to help with user growth, the app has received backing from high-profile investors, including Twitter co-founder Ev Williams, Twitch co-founder Kevin Lin, former Crunchyroll CEO Kun Gao, and the founding CEO of Rotten. Tomato Patrick Lee and others, resulting in a total funding of $1 million.
Replying to private video messages is just the first iteration of Seen. The company later plans to introduce a public feed for other users to discover and is also considering the possibility of popular creators interacting with fans individually to get their reactions before posting videos. Other potential use cases for the app could be for comedians to test new jokes or see a reaction from “an investor when they open a pitch,” Kaji said.
The company also intends to offer monetization features such as premium offers such as games and in-app filters. Advertising is another area you want to explore, however, Seen takes an interesting approach aiming to collect user interaction data.
“When you scroll through the feed, there will be some content from users, some content from friends, some content from advertisers,” Kaji noted, adding that users will have the option to interact with the ad, which Seen will then collect “anonymized data about aspects of Such as the type of emotion, the areas in which the individual is interested, and the degree of attention.” Interactions on ads can only be accessed by the viewer, not other users or the advertiser.
“These data points are very valuable, and it’s something that no one else has access to, which makes them really interesting,” he said.
Interactive messaging apps have been the trend among startups in the past — like Gather, Reactr, and Samba — yet they don’t seem to be taking off as the founders had hoped. Now, 10 years later, the launch of Seen comes at a time of increasing demand for more authentic and meaningful online communications, especially among the younger generation. The founders hope that this app will address the need for real interactions, especially at a time when many people are feeling the effects of the loneliness epidemic.