About Leo
Leo is a company based in San Francisco (United States) founded in 2013 was acquired by Lyft in June 2015. Leo has raised $1.5 million across 1 funding round from investors including Lyft, Kleiner Perkins and SV Angel. Leo operates in a competitive market with competitors including Meitu, Snapchat, Telegram, 500px and Snap, among others.
Funding Insights of Leo
Leo has successfully raised a total of $1.5M through 1 strategic funding round. The most recent funding activity was a Seed round of $1.5 million completed in December 2013. This substantial capital infusion reflects strong investor confidence in the company's business model, growth potential, and market opportunities. The funding enables strategic expansion, product development, market penetration, and operational scaling to drive long-term value creation and competitive advantage.
- Total Funding $1.5M
- Total Rounds 1
- Last Round Seed — $1.5M
- First Round $1.5M
(Dec 2013)
- Investors Count 6
All 1 funding rounds of Leo with amounts and investors; the two latest post-money valuations are shown, the rest are part of the premium plan.
| Date | Amount | Transaction Name | Valuation | Lead Investors | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 2013 | $1.5M | Seed | – | Kleiner Perkins |
7 investors in total: 6 institutional and 1 angel.
Investors in Leo
Leo has secured backing from 7 investors, including venture fund, angel, and institutional investors. Prominent investors backing the company include Lyft, Kleiner Perkins and SV Angel.
| Investor | Description | Founded Year | Domain | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Early-stage investments are provided to transformative technology companies. | – | svangel.com | San Francisco, United States | |
Freestyle VC is engaged in seed funding for tech startups. | – | freestyle.vc | Larkspur, United States | |
Venture capital firm specializing in early-stage tech investments and founder support. | 1965 | greylock.com | - | |
Investments in technology companies are conducted globally by Battery Ventures. | – | battery.com | - | |
Venture capital firm investing in early-stage tech startups | 1972 | kleinerperkins.com | Menlo Park, United States | |
App-based ride-hailing aggregator | 2007 | lyft.com | San Francisco, United States | |
RT Raymond Tonsing | Indian angel investor, founder of Caffeinated Capital, focused on early-stage tech startups. | – | unknown_55b7cec11dce401da | - |
Investor details for Leo
The complete investor list, round-by-round participation and investor portfolios require an active premium plan.
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Timeline of Leo
3 dated milestones of Leo across 2 years, from founding to its latest funding, stage changes and deals.
- Founded Leo is founded.
- Funding First funding round of $1.5M.
- Exit Acquired by Lyft.
Competitors of Leo
Leo operates in a dynamic and competitive business environment, facing competition from various established players and emerging companies in the market. The competitive landscape includes prominent companies such as Meitu, Snapchat, Telegram, 500px and Snap, among others.
| Company Name | Domain | Founded | HQ Location | Total funding | Employees | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| meitu.com | 2008 | Xiamen, China | $525M | – | Photo editing and sharing apps are developed by Meitu. | |
| snapchat.com | 2011 | Los Angeles, United States | $2.62B | 97 | Multimedia messaging application for ephemeral photos and videos is provided. | |
| telegram.org | 2013 | Dubai, United Arab Emirates | $1.85B | 2 | Secure cloud-based messaging for mobile and desktop is provided. | |
| 500px.com | 2009 | Toronto, Canada | $22.33M | 1 | Photos are shared, discovered, and sold on a community platform. | |
| snap.com | 2011 | Santa Monica, United States | – | 5,289 | Communication and media sharing are enabled via an online platform. | |
| 9gag.com | 2008 | Hong Kong, China | $3.92M | – | Image and video sharing social platform | |
| cooliris.com | 2006 | San Francisco, United States | $27.6M | – | Mobile messaging solutions for consumers are developed by Cooliris. | |
| kudos.com | 2010 | Palo Alto, United States | $15.73M | – | Employee recognition platform is offered for performance management and analytics. | |
| snow.me | 2015 | Seongnam-si, South Korea | – | – | Ephemeral messaging app for consumers is provided by Snow. | |
| lightbox.com | 2010 | San Francisco, United States | $1.1M | – | Social photography app for Android |
Detailed competitors of Leo
The full competitor set, operating metrics and side-by-side benchmarks require an active premium plan.
- Full competitor set
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Latest news on Leo
Complete news archive for Leo
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- Full article archive
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- Brand-specific news history
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Similar companies to Leo
10 companies that operate in the same segment as Leo (Communication Apps), ranked by their profile score on The Company Check.
| Company | Description | Founded | Location | Total funding | Revenue | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Family and friends are connected through location-sharing mobile app. | 2008 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 89.74 M | USD 489.48 M | 569 | |
Live social entertainment is facilitated via an app-based platform. | 2020 | Bengaluru, Karnataka, India | USD 51.05 M | USD 249.61 K | 115 | |
Live-streaming platform for user connections and content monetization is provided. | 2009 | Mountain View, California, United States | USD 373.44 M | – | – | |
Secure private messaging and multimedia sharing are facilitated worldwide. | 2009 | Menlo Park, California, United States | USD 58.25 M | USD 19.89 M | 34 | |
Group voice, video, and text communication platform is provided. | 2012 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 922.3 M | – | – | |
VoIP software for internet video chats and calls is offered. | 2002 | Luxembourg | USD 26.81 M | – | – | |
Multimedia messaging application for ephemeral photos and videos is provided. | 2011 | Los Angeles, California, United States | USD 2.62 B | USD 5.93 B | 4,910 | |
Multimedia messaging is enabled by Kik for mobile users. | 2009 | Santa Monica, California, United States | USD 166.39 M | – | – | |
Online platform to connect and ,meet new people | 2015 | Paris, France | USD 59.8 M | – | – | |
Global chat AIs are discovered through an online text platform. | 2021 | Palo Alto, California, United States | USD 2 M | – | – |
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Frequently Asked Questions about Leo
Leo was founded in 2013.
Leo is headquartered in San Francisco, United States. It is registered at San Francisco, California, United States.
Leo is a funded company, having raised a total of $1.5M across 1 funding round to date. The company's 1st funding round was a Seed of $1.5M, raised on Dec 2013.
Leo is available for both iOS and Android, provides an ultra-lightweight platform for one-on-one and group conversations. Photos and videos disappear a few seconds after viewing them. Text lasts for 24 hours. The ephemeral nature of the app is about getting rid of the cognitive load that comes with photos or videos being saved or shared in public. Friends can be added using Facebook list or mobile phone book. Raised 1.5M from various VC investors including angel investors such as Bob Lee, David King, Elad Gil, Mike Chu, Sara Haider, Steve Lee, Kent Goldman, and Raymond Tonsing.
Leo has 7 investors. Key investors include Lyft, Kleiner Perkins, SV Angel, Freestyle VC, and Greylock Partners.
Yes. Leo was acquired by Lyft in June 2015.