It seems like everyone wants to get their hands on David Dobrik's new photo app Dispo — investors included.
Days after launching a beta version of the platform, the Los Angeles startup was also in talks with investors including Andressen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital and Benchmark to raise a Series A round likely to value Dispo at $100 million, if not more, a source familiar with the talks confirmed. The news was first reported by The Information.
<p>The startup co-founded in 2019 by YouTube personality Dobrik and Natalie Mariduena <a href="https://dot.la/dispo-2648134232.html" target="_self">raised $4 million</a> last October in a round led by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian's venture fund, Seven Seven Six. Celebrity investors like The Chainsmokers and Sofia Vergara, and Lime's CEO Wayne Ting, also joined in. </p><p>Last weekend, the app picked up new momentum when an updated version launched for 10,000 invite-only users and created a buzz in <a href="https://twitter.com/5otoyam/status/1361135019633221633" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Japan</a> "overnight." </p><p>The splashy debut is a testament to 24-year-old Dobrik's hunch that his Gen Z fanbase is eager to embrace a different type of photo-driven app — one that isn't hinged on instant gratification like Instagram or Snapchat. He got the idea watching friends pour over how they looked before taking pictures at L.A. parties. </p><p>Dispo's app operates like a plastic disposable camera. After capturing images using their phone cameras, users have to wait 24 hours until their photos "develop." But that app isn't just another platform for taking pictures, like Huji or VSCO. Its newest function lets users post their pictures through Rolls, like rolls of film, that other users can view from the app. </p><p>Ahead of a potential Series A, the company has also been growing its team. TJ Taylor, former executive of the dating app Raya was named VP of Community and Michael Shillingburg from the TikTok-adjacent app Byte was hired to work on design.</p>
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It's 2020 and waiting for photos to develop is cool again.
That's at least what investors in a $4 million seed round for the "disposable camera" app Dispo hope. The Los Angeles-based platform co-founded by hit YouTuber David Dobrik announced Wednesday it closed a funding round led by Alexis Ohanian's venture fund Seven Seven Six.
The app, previously known as David's Disposables, has seen 2.6 million downloads since launching on Christmas Day last year. It's a camera app that makes users wait a day for their photos to "develop," recreating the anticipation of waiting to pick up a roll of film.
<p>"You can remember a time when you'd get disposable photos back from the pharmacy and there was this Christmas morning feeling where you were rifling through the photos and finding that one perfect shot," co-founder and CEO Daniel Liss told dot.LA.</p><p>Most Dispo users are teenagers and college students, a generation that doesn't know life without cell phones and digital cameras. Liss said they've taken to the company's concept partly because they're fans of Dobrik, 24, who has a fanbase among Generation Z. The media celebrity has over seven million followers across social media platforms. </p><p>Last week, Dobrik <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2020/10/07/david-dobriks-tesla-giveaway-was-probably-one-of-the-largest-us-voter-registration-drives-ever/#2a190d317b47" target="_blank">gave away five Teslas</a> through an event with the voter-registration nonprofit HeadCount. Liss said that event alone brought in 10% of all Headcount's voter registrations since it was launched.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDQ3NDIxMS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY3MTM5MzM0M30.t-ksRI5o1b4rtHSRKssgTg70Ec_2MD8UeS9WMYDENpQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="f9bbd" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3d7d43d97ff53925e615a47feb23d7fa" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1536" data-height="1555" />
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Dispo team members. Top left to right: David Dobrik, Daniel Liss, Natalie MariduenaBottom l to r: Regynald Augustin, Alexis Ohanian, Briana Hokanson</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Credit: Jack Dytrych / Briana Hokanson</small></p><p>The app ushers in a new — but actually old — way of taking photos.<br/></p><p>"A lot of his friends, who have big followings, would be so focused on taking the perfect photo," Liss said about Dobrik. "They wanted their lips to look a certain way and their butt to look a different way and the lighting and the outfits and this and that." </p><p>So the influencer started arriving at parties in L.A. with disposable cameras instead. No immediate shots to nitpick over. The idea stuck. </p><p>"They felt better about the experience. They felt so much more joy." </p><p>With the new funding, Liss said the six-person Dispo team is working to expand into a social media platform with features like user profiles, direct messages and comments. </p><p>It's too early to think about competitors, said Liss, but he imagines the platform will rival any app that captures the time of young people: social media, YouTube, Netflix — even hanging out in real life.</p>
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