SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 10, 2014 /PRNewswire-iReach/ - San Francisco-based startup Connect has made key additions to its board and raised $10.3 million in Series A funding from Fosun Group's Kinzon Capital, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and other investors, including Jason Calacanis' LAUNCH Fund, Bull City Venture Partners and angels Brad Feld, and Cyan and Scott Banister. Co-founders Ryan Allis and Anima Sarah LaVoy say the funding and new team will help them on their mission to bring 'social' back to its original meaning - spending time with friends in the real world.

Brad Bao, managing director of Fosun's Kinzon Capital, and Patrick Mork, former chief marketing officer (CMO) of Google Play, are now actively advising the startup. Prior to joining Fosun, Bao was the head of Tencent US (the makers of WeChat and QQ) and led their entire operation in that market, where he studied global mobile and social trends for almost a decade. Ex-Googler Mork brings global and Europe, Middle East and Asia (EMEA) focused marketing expertise, as well as deep experience in Android strategy. He built and led Google Play's marketing team during the creation of the Play Store brand and helped grow annual revenue in excess of $3.5 billion within two years. Prior to Google, Mork was CMO for Accel-backed app store GetJar.

To date, Connect has raised $13.1M in total funding. New resources will allow the team make strategic hires, continue product development, and develop partnerships.

"The idea is simple: we're bringing all your people into one place, putting them on a map of the world so you know where they are," says co-founder and CEO Allis. "Connect is helping you find more opportunities to see your people in person."

Anima Sarah LaVoy, co-founder and Chief Product Officer, sees Connect as part of an evolution in social technology that enables people to spend less time staring at a screen, and more time interacting with one another. "Since when is being social scrolling through a news feed?" asks LaVoy. "Other social apps share content - status updates, videos, photos. Our focus is location, and our share is you. In real life."

"Connect first caught my eye due to its unique features," said Bao. "Their ability to show and notify users when there is an opportunity to meet up in person with people they know solves a big consumer problem. In addition, I was touched and inspired by the team's vision to leverage technology that enhances human relationships by bringing people together in the real world. As the world becomes global and so ever more connected, people instinctively feel the need to stay in touch with those closest to them in a more authentic way. With users in over 150 countries and a focus on redefining how social and mobile can strengthen our relationships, we find that Connect's vision is very much aligned with our own. We are excited to see where this journey takes us."

Connect's app works regardless of whether friends have the Connect app or not. From the moment you download the app, you'll see where all your friends live across the world and receive notifications when they travel, visit your city, or are nearby. In this way, Connect is a real-world layer that sits atop other social networks.

Since launching in late February 2014, over 2.5 million people in more than 150 countries have signed up for Connect.

Based on third-party research of nearly 2,000 Connect users, nearly 66% reported that the app has inspired them to take action in the real world. Even though the app's primary focus is to help people create more moments with those they already know, 54% of users say the app makes them feel more open to new experiences and people, and 72% report the desire to travel to new places. A clear majority also believe using Connect has made them feel more connected to humanity overall. Survey data was collected over October and November of this year.

Connect is available for free on iOS in the App Store and on the web. The company plans to release a new version on Android in early 2015 with updates to the IOS version as well.

ABOUT CONNECT

Connect is a relationships company. Our mission is to help people build and deepen relationships over a lifetime. The company provides an iOS and web-based app (coming soon to Android) that places "all your people on a map of the world" and enables users to bring together all their connections across multiple sources into one powerful communications tool. Current people sources include phone and email contacts as well as major social networks (Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, Foursquare). As of December 2014, Connect had users in 154 countries on iOS. Co-founders Ryan Allis and Anima Sarah LaVoy started the company in May 2012. They lead a full-time staff of 13 employees headquartered in San Francisco.

ABOUT FOSUN GROUP'S KINZON CAPITAL

Fosun was established in Shanghai in 1992. Fosun International Limited (00656.HK) was listed on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited on 16 July 2007. Fosun has been persistently taking roots in China and investing in China's growth fundamentals. It has been actively implementing its investment model of "Combining China's Growth Momentum with Global Resources", with a view to making a major stride towards becoming a world-class investment group underpinned by the twin drivers of "insurance-oriented comprehensive financial capability" and "industrial-rooted global investment capability". Today, Fosun's businesses include insurance, industrial operations, investment and asset management. Fosun Kinzon Capital was founded in April 2013 with $350 million under management. It invests in early stage technology ventures with a focus on mobile enabled healthcare, social and communications, as well as financial technology. With a professional investment team based in Palo Alto in the US; as well as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen in China, the fund is aiming to invest in ambitious and capable teams and support them to become global leaders in their respective industries.