Systrom initially managed a $500,000 seed fund for Burbn from the investor Baseline Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz, who were pretty impressed at the first look of the prototype. Later after releasing Instagram as the final product, Systrom and Krieger managed to raise $57 million in funding. In 2012, Facebook made a move to purchase Instagram and successfully closed the deal by acquiring the photo-sharing app for $1billion. The amount was paid in both cash and stock shares. $300 million in cash and 23 million shares were given in exchange for Instagram.
Modification and Integration Throughout The Way
Other than some inevitable changes made over time, the single purpose app managed to keep its design and feature minimal. The design has served the app well over it’s countless years as one of the top social media platforms. Two major changes to the app took place in 2014 and 2017. In 2014, the size of the app was reduced by almost 50%. In 2017 an offline feature was integrated to allow users to surf through contents without internet connection.
Among the most notable features that were integrated throughout the app’s journey, was the introduction of hashtags in 2011. The use of hashtags have become synonymous with the use of Instagram. In 2012, the explore tab of the app was incorporated, where users could explore popular photos that were taken in a nearby location. The explore tab proved to be very beneficial for those businesses and personalities who quickly amassed millions of followers. Being a single purpose photo-sharing app, incorporating the video feature in 2013 was a huge step for Instagram. Initially, videos were limited to 15 seconds. That year, users also embraced the integration of ‘Instagram Direct’, which let people interact through private messages.
The most notable feature Instagram incorporated in recent years was the Snapchat feature, released in 2016. The feature included the ability to create and publish stories.
Needless to say, Instagram has had a very fruitful inception and continues to grow under the management of Facebook. Who knows what growth Instagram will undergo in the next 5 years.