Bitstrips, an app for building personalized comic strips, is raising a hefty Series B. We’ve heard from sources familiar with the matter that Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers is taking the lead.
The deal hasn’t yet closed, so the amount isn’t confirmed, but we’re hearing that the Toronto-based company is looking to secure $15 million. This would bring Bitstrips’ total funding to $18 million.
Bitstrips launched back in October of 2013 and took all of two weeks to hit the No. 1 spot for free applications in the App Store.
The service lets you create an avatar of yourself using an easy-to-use composer. Once your main character is complete, you can be the star of your own comic thanks to hundreds of pre-set situations and elements, including facial expressions and backgrounds. Bitstrips also lets you connect with your friends on Facebook, develop avatars for them, and include them in your comic strips (shareable to Facebook, of course).
The company pushes out new comic options every day, but with the explosion in user growth over the past few months, scaling is likely becoming an issue, which explains why the company is raising such a large sum just a few months after its last round.
In mid-December, Bitstrips confirmed a $3 million Series A investment from China-based Horizons Venture. At the time, the company announced it had hit 30 million avatars in two months.
We’ve reached out to Bitstrips and KPCB for comment, but neither firm responded.