GoKawiilRetro raises $21M Series A, now valued over $100M
Retro, a friend-focused photo-sharing app founded by former Instagram engineers Nathan Sharp and Ryan Olson, closed a Series A round of more than $21 million in December, according to an SEC filing spotted by Business Insider. The filing was made under the startup's legal name, Lone Palm Labs, and Pitchbook now pegs the company's valuation above $100 million.
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The raise signals investor appetite for social apps built around real friendships rather than algorithmic, creator-driven feeds increasingly cluttered with AI-generated content. Retro's subscription-only model, avoiding ads entirely, also offers a test case for whether smaller, intimate social networks can sustain themselves financially without selling user attention to advertisers.
- Retro raised over $21M in a Series A round closed in December 2023.
- The app is now valued at more than $100 million per Pitchbook estimates.
- Retro relies on subscriptions, not ads, and has seen in-app spending jump 460% in six months.
Fujifilm Instax Mini 12 Instant Camera — If Retro's whole pitch is sharing real photos with actual friends instead of algorithmic feeds, the Instax Mini 12 is the analog version of that idea: point, shoot, and hand the print to someone. It's simple enough that anyone at the party can use it, and the credit-card-sized prints are perfect for fridges, desks and scrapbooks.
See Fujifilm Instax Mini 12 Instant Camera on Amazon → Affiliate link — we may earn a commission on purchases, at no extra cost to you. Product picked by AI based on this article; it is not a tested recommendation.Source: techcrunch.com — Sarah Perez, 2026-08-28
Published there as: “Friend-focused photo sharing app Retro snags $21M”
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