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Lex , a social and go steady app for the LGBTQ+ community , has been acquired by9count , a mobile app pudding stone focusing on societal web .
Lexstarted as an Instagram page in 2017 , which was inspired byvintage sapphic personal ads . The page became so democratic that founder Kell Rakowski spun it into an app in 2019 . In less than a year , the app raised a$1.5 millionseed around , and seasoned entrepreneurJennifer Lewisjoined as a co - laminitis and CEO .
“ Mainstream social platform really do n’t serve this audience , ” Lewis told TechCrunch . harmonize to GLAAD , LGBTQ+ people are doubly as likely to experience harassment online , which make knowing online spaces for odd people more necessary . “ What I ’m passionate about at Lex is building a social platform where exploiter can meet people like them , but also have a safe space where they can fully state their identity . ”
Lex ’s users have mellow standards for the app , since it wait on a residential area that has been historicallyoverlookedandmistreatedby mainstream social platforms . Last year , the app rebranded to accentuate general socialization over date and hookups , which made some users vex that Lex was becoming too sanitized . As one usertold TechCrunchat the time , “ There ’s no need to encourage ‘ societal ’ role unless you ’re trying to hold forth other US ( i.e. , sexual activity ) . ”
As Lex joins 9count , user may be concerned about further change to the app . But Lewis says this move will enable Lex to ship raw features more quickly and increase its content moderation content . “ We ’re able to ship new features probably like three times the rate of before the acquisition , ” she tell .
9count is head by Alex Hofmann , who formerly served as chief executive officer of Musical.ly , the app that was acquire by ByteDance and became TikTok . The conglomerate ’s most popular app isWink , another geological dating and friendly relationship app , but it also operatesother appslike Summer , a dating app .
give his experience with ByteDance , which own several apps under one corporate umbrella , Hofmann wants 9count to repeat that strategy . “ We had our first conversation and immediately realized we really share the same vision , ” Hofmann articulate . “ The vision is basically that we believe the future of social medium is not in , you do it , build up this one bighearted production , chase billions of users with advertising , and we believe the future is vertical social networks that empower communities . ”
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According to Lex , the app has been download over a million times , which is low compared to more - mainstream dating apps — however , Lex is point a smaller interview , and users send millions of subject matter per month . Hofmann and Lewis declined to disclose the term of the deal .
