Nice targets selfies with style
The world has seen plenty of selfies. From dining tables to football matches, there is always someone, arm outstretched and phone in hand, keen to capture a photo of themselves for posterity. It was only a matter of time before mobile apps enabling people to beautify these images emerged.
Nice is a Chinese mobile app that has taken the process one logical step further. It allows users to tag photos of themselves in order to showcase the brands they are wearing. In addition to being uploaded to Facebook and Instagram, selfies find their way to the Nice platform with the Gucci or Starbucks logo also logged for posterity.
A brand-tagging function has been available on Instagram for some time without really taking off. China is a completely different proposition, though. Nice launched last October and has built up a following of more than 2 million registered users who share about 100,000 images each day. One in 10 of these users are based outside of China. Matrix Partners and Morningside Technologies were suitably convinced and put up $8 million in Series A funding two months ago.
"Our company was set up earlier last year and we wanted to launch a mobile product to address the young demographic. But it has taken time for us to find our market position," explains Alex Zhou, co-founder of Nice.
Zhou's previous online ventures include streetwear magazine Kidulty and e-commerce site Kongdao. He then teamed up with Dapeng Cao, formerly Sina and Baidu, and they created male-focused app KK Shopping - which failed to gain traction - before conceiving Nice. Matrix and Morningside have both provided assistance since then, notably helping the company create an online community for users to share lifestyle information rather than a pure e-commerce platform selling products.
"China has been seen as a copycat of apps developed in the US, while Chinese-made products haven't gained a following overseas. But we think Nice can develop domestically and internationally," Zhou says.
VY Capital and H Capital recently joined the existing investors in a Series B round worth $20 million. Both are newly-established funds. H was set up by Xiaohong Chen, ex-China managing partner at Tiger Global, while VY is led by Alexander Tamas, previously of DST Advisors.
"We weren't really looking for capital in this round, rather expansion strategies offered by global VC firms. Chen has invested in almost every leading technology firm in China and Tamas has seen all cutting edge technologies developed in Silicon Valley," Zhou says.
Nice now supports Facebook and Instagram as well as Chinese platforms Weibo and WeChat as it seeks to broaden its user base. An online chatting function, which groups users who like similar brands, has also been introduced, and new users have increased tenfold since January.
"For us, developing a strong data base is the most important task right now," Zhou adds.
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