Lightbank Invests In Location-Based Mobile Social Network WhosHere

After backing Babbaco, Lightbank is making another investment today. The investment firm has funded myRete, the developers of WhosHere,a location-based mobile social network. This is the first outside investment for myRete.

WhosHere is a location-based social networking application (an iOS app for now) that allows you to see who’s in your near location and message people. The app introduces a user to others with whom they have something in common and when a user finds someone they are interested in engaging, they can message the individual. You can chat with people nearby, send free text and image messages, and make free VoIP calls without giving out any personal information. You can also send virtual gifts to other users.

For a bootstrapped company, WhosHere has an impressive user base and is profitable. The iOS app has over four million registered users who have sent over 2 billion text messages in 14 languages. The startup says users sending an average of 10 million messages a day.

MyRete says the new funding will be used for hiring and to expand to other mobile platforms, including Android.