{"id":25431,"date":"2021-07-26T04:50:35","date_gmt":"2021-07-26T04:50:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rbsitsoftwaresolution.com\/blog\/zebra-raises-1-1m-in-a-pre-seed-round-for-messaging-that-pairs-photos-with-voice-chat.html"},"modified":"2021-07-26T04:50:35","modified_gmt":"2021-07-26T04:50:35","slug":"zebra-raises-1-1m-in-a-pre-seed-round-for-messaging-that-pairs-photos-with-voice-chat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rbsitsoftwaresolution.in\/blog\/zebra-raises-1-1m-in-a-pre-seed-round-for-messaging-that-pairs-photos-with-voice-chat.html","title":{"rendered":"Zebra raises $1.1M in a pre-seed round for messaging that pairs photos with voice chat"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new voice-based social app that cites Clubhouse as its biggest inspiration offers a playful new way to stay in touch with close friends and family. Zebra<\/a>\u00a0leaves video out of the equation altogether, inviting users to snap on-the-fly photos and send them off paired with casual voice updates.<\/p>\n

Zebra focuses on asynchronous sharing, but it also lets users call one another if they\u2019re both already hanging out on the app. The result is a fun and casual way to stay in touch for anyone who doesn\u2019t feel like accidentally getting sucked into Instagram\u2019s endless, ad-strewn feed every time they want to give a friend a quick update.<\/p>\n

For now Zebra is a two-person team consisting of CEO Dennis Gecaj, a product designer based in Berlin, and Amer Shahnawaz, Zebra\u2019s head of engineering, who previously worked on Snap Maps at Snapchat. The pre-seed funding was led by Alexis Ohanian\u2019s fresh early-stage venture firm Seven Seven Six, which the Reddit co-founder announced in June. The app will launch formally in August but is now open for preorders through the App Store<\/a> and as a beta in TestFlight<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Seven Seven Six, the new venture firm from Alexis Ohanian, closes $150 million Fund 1<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s no secret that we are in the midst of an audio revolution, one that has ushered in a series of new audio-first social platforms and content vehicles,\u201d Ohanian said, noting that Zebra\u2019s unique blend of photos and voice is what caught his eye.<\/p>\n

Gecaj sees voice-based social networking as a much richer alternative to text-dominant platforms. While products like Instagram allow voice messages and technically let users make voice calls by disabling the camera, voice usually plays second fiddle to video. But video calls are more taxing and require more commitment \u2014 it\u2019s no coincidence more and more Zoom cameras blinked offline as the pandemic dragged on.<\/p>\n

Unlike Clubhouse, which Gecaj calls a \u201chuge inspiration, Zebra is social audio designed for your inner circle. \u201cWith everything opening back up we saw an incredible opportunity for an asynchronous format for that,\u201d he told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n

Gecaj hopes that Zebra\u2019s \u201ctalking photos\u201d can capture the collective imagination in a way that makes early growth natural. Anyone who downloads Zebra can invite friends individually without needing to share their full contact list (and they\u2019ll need to \u2014 you can\u2019t do anything on the app without friends). Because Zebra\u2019s interface is so clean and streamlined, this process is painless and doesn\u2019t necessitate any extra digging through menus.<\/p>\n

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Clubhouse ventures beyond audio with Backchannel, a new messaging feature<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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The idea of a \u201czebra\u201d \u2014 naturally, Zebra is trying to make \u201czebra\u201d happen \u2014 is that people like to see what they are talking about. On a different messaging app, this would require sending a photo and then sending a voice message in quick succession. But on Zebra, sending a photo is the main thing you can do. The app opens right to the camera where you snap a picture. You then hold the photo to record a snippet of voice to go along with it and send it off to friends and family, who appear in a row beneath the camera.<\/p>\n

Zebra isn\u2019t worried about the prospect of talking people into downloading another app. Gecaj sees a natural split emerging as creators and audiences increasingly become the focus of social platforms that were initially designed to help friends stay in touch.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the trend is a division between creator platforms where you go to be entertained and platforms you go to hang out with your friends,\u201d Gecaj told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n

On top of that, he hopes that Zebra\u2019s dual focus on voice and photos, two aspects of social networking that platforms either don\u2019t prioritize or are actively abandoning, can make it appealing for people who aren\u2019t as interested in video.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really also think that text messaging doesn\u2019t have the same emotion as voice\u2026 and voice has been really neglected,\u201d Gecaj said. \u201cThere\u2019s really a richness to voice, a power to voice that nothing else has.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Swell launches its app for asynchronous voice conversations<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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10 VCs say interactivity, regulation and independent creators will reshape digital media in 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Article source: http:\/\/feedproxy.google.com\/~r\/techcrunch\/social\/~3\/XUsub3JQHq4\/<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new voice-based social app that cites Clubhouse as its biggest inspiration offers a playful new way to stay in touch with close friends and family. Zebra\u00a0leaves video out of <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[10,7,14,15,6,12,11],"class_list":["post-25431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-update","tag-computer-news","tag-downloads","tag-microsoft-download-news","tag-networking-updates","tag-technology-update","tag-wordpress-plugin-download","tag-wordpress-theme-download"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t