Healthy-living photo community PumpUp raises $2.4M in seed funding

Getting fit never looked so good. At least, that’s what PumpUp hopes you think. The company just secured $2.4 million in seed funding that will help it grow its internal team and the PumpUp community as a whole. The funds will also be used to further app development.

The PumpUp app, which currently has more than 1.7 million users, is a social network that allows people to share photos, track their fitness goals and progress, and engage in conversation. People can share their progress, meal ideas, and more, and others can comment and offer support.

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And it’s the support factor that separates PumpUp from similar apps. In fact, the community is made up of 90 percent woman and allows them to offer support on a level the other apps like Strava, which primarily offers fitness stats, just can’t touch.

Phil Jacobson, co-founder of PumpUp, believes the community serves a vital purpose in fostering a “positive, comfortable space where members come together to share, support, and motivate each other,” he said in a press release. For some, the photos they share on PumpUp are the first they ever share of their bodies in public, he added.

General Catalyst Partners led the round with Azure Capital Partners, Freycinet Investments, previous investor Relay Ventures, and several angel investors following suit. The company received investments in two previous funding rounds as well. The first in February 2013 for $40,000 from Communitech HYPERDRIVE. The second in September 2013 from several angel investors including Mike Stork, Steve Gilpin, Marc Altshuller, Jim Estill, and Relay Ventures.