- Companies
- IRL
Last IRL valuation
$1.2B
Series C · Jun 2021
Last IRL funding round
$170M
Series C · Jun 2021
Cumulative funding IRL raised
$197M
across 4 funding rounds
Key investors in IRL
Founders Fund
Long Journey Ventures
Goodwater Capital
Floodgate
500 Global
SoftBank Group
About IRL
IRL is a San Francisco-headquartered social discovery app launched in 2019 for joining interest-based groups, chatting, and planning events. Users create or follow communities around hobbies like hiking or gaming, host virtual and in-person meetups with polls and GIFs, and connect via direct messages. Available on iOS and Android, IRL emphasizes real-life interactions through geolocated events, serving millions of young adults in the US and Europe with privacy-focused features.
Founded
2016
HQ
Website
Status
Privately held
Customer focus
B2C
Revenue model
Advertising
Valuation
$1.2B (Jun 2021)
IRL Valuation
IRL is currently valued at $1.2B, based on its Series C in June 2021.
The $170M round was led by SoftBank Group, with participation from Dragoneer, Long Journey Ventures, Goodwater Capital, Floodgate and Founders Fund.
IRL valuation by funding round
| Date | Stage | Valuation |
|---|---|---|
| Jun 2021 | Series C | $1.2B |
IRL Funding History
IRL has raised a total of $197M across 4 funding rounds.
IRL's first fundraising round was a $3M seed round in January 2018. The most recent completed round was a $170M Series C in June 2021.
IRL funding rounds
| Date | Stage | Investors | Raised | Valuation | Deal Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 2021 | Series C | SoftBank Group (lead); Dragoneer; Long Journey Ventures; Goodwater Capital; Floodgate; Founders Fund | $170M | $1.2B | IRL, a social event discovery and messenger app, raised funding in a round led by SoftBank Vision Fund around June 2021, with participation from investors including Cyan Banister, Dragoneer Investment Group, Floodgate, Founders Fund, and Goodwater Capital. The company has raised a total of $197M across 6 rounds as of available records. The post-money valuation for the June 2021 round was $1,170 million. IRL's latest development was a 'Dead' status noted on June 23, 2023, indicating the company ceased operations. |
| Sep 2020 | Series B | Goodwater Capital (lead); Convivialite Ventures; Mark Pincus; Long Journey Ventures; Raine Ventures; Floodgate; Founders Fund | $16M | - | IRL (In Real Life) is a social calendar and event discovery platform designed to help people organize and discover events to attend together. The platform provides a centralized space for users to RSVP to events, whether in-person or virtual, and measures engagement through a proprietary metric called "Time Together" that tracks hours users spend attending events they have RSVP'd to. In September 2020, IRL announced a $16 million Series B funding round led by Goodwater Capital, with participation from Founders Fund, Floodgate, and Raine. The round brought the company's total raised to $27–$28 million since its 2017 founding. The funding was earmarked for building out IRL's web product and expanding internationally. At the time of the Series B, IRL had experienced 10x growth in daily active users since its June 2019 launch and users had spent 300 million hours in "Time Together" on the platform. The company had also launched a college network feature covering over 100 institutions including Harvard, USC, Columbia, and NYU, and had secured partnerships with major brands including TikTok, SoundCloud, and HBO to promote virtual events on its platform. |
| Jun 2019 | Series A | Goodwater Capital (lead); Kleiner Perkins; Long Journey Ventures; Founders Fund; Fort Ventures | $8M | - | - |
| Jan 2018 | Seed | Floodgate (lead); Founders Fund (lead); Long Journey Ventures; 500 Global | $3M | - | - |
Who has invested in IRL?
12 investors have backed IRL across its funding rounds, including Founders Fund, Long Journey Ventures, Goodwater Capital, Floodgate, 500 Global and SoftBank Group.
Lead investors include SoftBank Group, Goodwater Capital, Floodgate and Founders Fund.
IRL Investors
| Investor | HQ | Rounds | Role | First check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Participant | Jan 2018 | ||
| 4 | Lead | Jan 2018 | ||
| 3 | Lead | Jun 2019 | ||
| 3 | Lead | Jan 2018 | ||
| 1 | Participant | Jun 2021 | ||
| 1 | Participant | Sep 2020 | ||
| 1 | Participant | Jun 2019 | ||
| 1 | Lead | Jun 2021 | ||
| 1 | Participant | Sep 2020 | ||
| 1 | Participant | Sep 2020 | ||
This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all 12 IRL investors. Start Free Trial | ||||
Benchmark 350K+ Funding Rounds and Disclosed VC Valuation Multiples
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Start Free TrialAcquisitions by IRL
IRL has acquired 1 company to date.
Last acquisition by IRL was on December 2nd 2021. IRL acquired AeBeZe labs for undisclosed valuation.
Latest Acquisitions by IRL
| Description | AeBeZe labs is a developer of applications focused on health and wellness prescriptions. The platform offers digital tools for lifestyle improvements and medical guidance through its prescription-based services. |
| HQ Country | |
| HQ City | London |
| Deal Date | 2 Dec 2021 |
| Valuation | undisclosed |
| EV/Revenue | |
| EV/EBITDA | |
This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all IRL acquisitions and their M&A valuation multiples. Start Free Trial | |
IRL Competitors
IRL competitors include listed companies like Yalla Group, Hello Group and VNG Corp., and private ones like mobli, Strava and Freechat.
| Company | HQ | Status | Revenue | EBITDA | Valuation | Revenue Multiple |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Private | - | - | $1B | - | ||
| Private | $500M | - | $1.5B | 3.0x | ||
| Publicly listed | $342M | $128M | $827M | - | ||
| Private | $40M | - | $800M | 20.0x | ||
| Publicly listed | $1.5B | $215M | $704M | - | ||
| Publicly listed | $420M | $23M | $657M | - |
IRL Public Comps
IRL is still privately-owned, but its public comps include Nextdoor, Webtoon, Wondershare, Yalla Group, DeNA, Ireader, Weibo, mixi, Opera and Truecaller.
| Last FY | EV/Revenue | EV/EBITDA | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | EBITDA | Last FY | LTM | 2027E | Last FY | LTM | 2027E | |
| $258M | ($69M) | 2.4x | 2.2x | (8.8x) | 27.8x | |||
| $1.4B | ($373M) | 0.6x | 0.6x | (2.4x) | 37.6x | |||
| $229M | ($6M) | 6.3x | 6.4x | (231.3x) | (175.1x) | |||
| $342M | $128M | - | - | - | - | |||
| $950M | $177M | 1.1x | 1.1x | 5.8x | 6.5x | |||
| $484M | ($16M) | 2.7x | 3.5x | (81.1x) | - | |||
| $1.8B | $644M | 0.5x | 0.5x | 1.4x | 1.9x | |||
| $1.1B | $218M | 0.9x | 0.8x | 4.5x | 4.7x | |||
This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all IRL competitors and their valuation data. Start Free Trial | ||||||||
Common questions about IRL
| When was IRL founded? | IRL was founded in 2016. |
| Where is IRL headquartered? | IRL is headquartered in San Francisco, CA, United States. |
| Is IRL publicly listed? | No, IRL is a private, VC-backed company. |
| What is IRL's valuation? | IRL was last valued at $1.2B in its Series C in June 2021. |
| How much funding has IRL raised? | IRL has raised $197M across 4 funding rounds. |
| What was IRL's last funding round? | IRL's last funding round was a $170M Series C in June 2021, led by SoftBank Group. |
| Who are IRL's investors? | IRL's investors include Long Journey Ventures, Founders Fund, Goodwater Capital, Floodgate, Dragoneer, Convivialite Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, SoftBank Group, Mark Pincus, Raine Ventures and 2 others. |
| Which companies are comparable to IRL? | Companies comparable to IRL include mobli, Strava, Yalla Group, Freechat, Hello Group and VNG Corp.. |
| How many companies has IRL acquired? | IRL has acquired 1 company, including AeBeZe labs. |
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