Half a million users later, Tinybeans raises $1.7M for a baby-focused social network

Aww shucks, look at that little baby!

Babies are like cats in that you just can’t stop looking at their cute photos. Tinybeans, an Australia-based family-only social network, has today announced the raising of A$2 million (US$1.7 million) to fund their efforts to help parents chronicle their babies’ lives. The funding came from a consortium of unnamed “high net worth private investors”.

Having reached over 500,000 registered users spanning 188 countries since founding in 2012, co-founder Eddie Geller reveals that they are aiming to double that by year’s end, and hit three million by mid-2015. Their focus is currently on user acquisition – this will switch to revenue growth only in 2016.

Currently, over 50 percent of their users are based in the US. The funds will be used to continue their push into the Australian and US markets. They plan to set up operations in the US in 2015, then expand into China and India in the same year.

According to an official statement, the funding will also go towards continuing to provide families with useful and relevant information, as well as tools and products, to support them through the various development milestones of their children.

“As most new parents know, you want to share your precious moments and not have to worry about security and privacy issues […] Unlike other social networks, we are so much more than just sharing pictures and updates – we’re a private social network focused around the well-being of a child,” Geller explains.

“Parents are creating a keepsake/journal rather than a timeline – our users own their content, and we provide value beyond printing services and sharing photos through our focus on helping families raise their children and support their child’s development.”

While the Tinybeans app is currently free-of-charge, Geller says that they will be introducing several paid features in time to come.

See: Tinybeans Photographs Your Children’s Lives, One Day at a Time