China’s best Instagram replacement yet snaps up $36M investment

Nice, an up-and-coming Instagram replacement for China, just announced it has closed a US$36 million series C round of financing from Tiger Global Fund and Vy Capital, according to 36kr.

Instagram has been blocked in China since a wave of photos showing Hong Kong’s Occupy Central protests sprung up on the app. With no signs of making a comeback, we searched for substitute photo-sharing social networks in China and found the alternatives to either be sub-par or miss the mark.

But we overlooked Nice, which received a US$8 million series A round from Matrix Partners China and Morningside in April, then a US$20 million series B from H Capital, Vy Capital, Matrix Partners China, and Morningside in July. The startup reports “tens of millions” of users.

Nice has a bilingual user interface that will switch depending on your phone’s language. That’s important to the many expats in China recently cut off from Instagram and looking for a replacement.

The app is pretty simple and Instagram users should feel more or less at home. Snap a pic, upload it, edit and add filters, then post it. Tags are put right into the photo rather than added to the accompanying text, similar to tagging in Facebook. You can tag locations manually or choose from a list of nearby places sourced from Dianping, China’s top Yelp-like review site. The app uses WeChat login and has sharing options for WeChat Moments, which should make it easier to gain traction.

One unique feature is how Nice implements stickers. These can be plastered onto photos, bearing catchphrases like “Get it!” or “It is magic!” Users get about a dozen to start with, but to get more, you have to share each sticker you want on either Qzone or WeChat Moments. Every sticker has a limited quantity, usually a few thousand, adding some extra incentive to get the ones you want. This forced virality is a bit annoying, but could work in Nice’s favor down the line.

Nice hasn’t started monetizing yet, but it’s looking into a few different avenues to do so. The biggest is brand advertising, where models and brands can sponsor accounts that show off their products. Users see these using Nice’s “Discover” tab, where they can browse popular accounts. In fact, tagging brands in photos was pretty much the app’s exclusive purpose the last time we covered it. Selling stickers and filters is always a possibility as well.

With its latest investment, Nice will enhance its algorithms and data mining capabilities, expand into overseas markets, and strengthen the app’s social attributes.

(Source: 36kr)