Leonardo DiCaprio is the latest celebrity to get in on the celebrity tech investing trend, joining Lady Gaga, Ashton Kutcher and others. Leo is leading a $4 million round in photo sharing app and Israeli startup Mobli.
For background, Mobli is a photo-sharing app where users can share moments and see the world through other people’s eyes. Unlike other photosharing apps, Mobli is made up of subject-based channels and filters such as people, places and topics. The platform has seen significant celebrity adoption and is used by Leo himself, David Arquette and Paris Hilton.
Users can connect to Mobli with Facebook to bring in a social element to the application and share photos with friends. For example, concert-goers, celebrity fans, wedding attendees, and families can all share pictures and videos of an occasion, experience or interest with like-minded communities. All pictures/videos are geotagged (and can be optionally tagged to a Foursquare venue) to further narrow collections.
The app offers 22 free filters. Mobli uniquely applies filters on a visual basis but also in relation to location, so users can frame photos taken in a sports stadium in team colors, or taken at a conference with branded filters. Clearly, there’s a huge opportunity for brands to work with Mobli to sponsor filters.
Mobli offers apps for iPhone, Android, and Blackberry devices and is acquiring 10,000 new users a day.
Leena Rao is currently a Senior Writer at Fortune Magazine.
Leena had a brief stint at Google Ventures as an Operating Partner.
Leena’s first role out of journalism school was at TechCrunch which she joined in 2008. She rose through the ranks becoming the Managing Editor for TechCrunch and a voice at TechCrunch Disrupt.
She recently finished graduate school at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, where she studied business journalism and videography. From 2004 to 2007, she helped lead Congresswoman Carloyn Maloney’s community outreach and relations efforts in New York City.
She graduated from Columbia University in 2003, where she was the captain of the women’s varsity tennis team. She has also contributed technology content for Oprah.com.