Two weeks after the third anniversary of founding Between, the world's largest social network for couples, has hit a major milestone, achieving 10 million global downloads. Since launching 3 years ago, Between has enjoyed 100% year-on-year growth.
What is perhaps even more encouraging is that in 2014, much of this growth came from overseas markets, such as Japan, Taiwan and Southeast Asia. Japan hit its 1 million local downloads earlier this year, while Southeast Asia saw a doubling of its users in the region and Taiwan saw a 700% increase in downloads over the last year of operations. VCNC now sees 50% of its users coming from global markets outside of South Korea, up from just 40% at the end of 2013. This is a testament to the team’s ability to rapidly expand into new markets, one of only a small number of Korean startups that has so far been able to achieve this.
“Each year, I challenge the team to achieve a ‘unicorn’ goal. In 2013, it was releasing Between 2.0, making the best app for couples even better. This year, it was hitting 10 million global downloads, up from just 5 million at the end of last year. This milestone is important for our company’s next steps to achieving sustainability as it will allow us to operate as a platform, and I’m proud to see the team hit this goal confidently,” said Jake Park, CEO and Co-founder of VCNC.
Between currently monetises through in-app purchases from its sticker store, advertising and engagement through its proprietary Event Box channel, and e-commerce stores (currently only available in Korea, though there are plans to extend this service globally). The couples app is also exploring a platform model that will allow it to continue to monetise from the niche user-base it serves. Imagine the potential for brands to reach into an intimate and private circle between couples.
Other than just growing its downloads, Between has also seen user engagement increase. To date, Between has delivered over 24.9 billion messages, stored over 255 million photos, and recorded over 12.6 billion app sessions. in fact the average Between user spends 17 minutes daily on the app.
- November, 2011 – VCNC raised US$1 million Seed funding, launched Between (open-beta)
- March, 2012 – VCNC launched Between 1.0
- December, 2012 – 2 million downloads
- January, 2013 – VCNC raised US$3 million Series A funding, launched sticker store with Version 1.4.0 update
- March, 2013 – VCNC Japan office opened in Tokyo
- October, 2013 – VCNC expanded to Southeast Asia
- December, 2013 – 5 million global downloads, launched Between 2.0 update
- March, 2014 – VCNC raised Series B funding
- May, 2014 – VCNC launched Between e-commerce store in South Korea
- June, 2014 – VCNC expanded to Taiwan
- August, 2014 – VCNC Singapore office opened in Singapore
- October, 2014 – Between PC Version launched
- December, 2014 – 10 million global downloads