Dating app JigTalk has closed a $1 million seed funding round and appointed a new chairman.
Manchester-based JigTalk plans to use the capital to launch in London then expand around the UK and internationally in 2019.
The investment round was led by Apadmi Ventures and includes significant backing from high profile London, New York and Manchester-based angel investors.
JigTalking consists of 16 jigsaw pieces, initially covering each user’s face, popping away one by one as more and more messages are exchanged.
Available for free on iOS and Android, the platform encourages people to move away from the superficial hotspots of current dating apps, and instead positions personality first and foremost.
In the last two years JigTalk has BETA-tested its app in the north of England with 15,000 users and built a ten-strong team in the UK and Canada.
In addition to building growing its team to ten full-time staff, the company has also welcomed Christopher Edmonds, ex-global MD of technology for JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley, as chairman and investor.
Edmonds has worked with high-scale tech companies throughout his career and will join Apadmi Ventures on the board. JigTalk said it expects to make another high profile appointment to its board in the coming months ahead.
“We’re all extremely hyped about what lies ahead for JigTalk. Chris’ input is priceless and this appointment reflects our growth ambitions,” said Alex Durrant, who co-founded the firm with Max Adamski.
“We get to see lots of great ideas and people, but the JigTalk team are next-level,” Howard Simms, CEO of Apadmi Ventures, said last year.
“The combination of a hugely disruptive challenge to one of the biggest markets in the world and a group of creative people with such phenomenal drive is extremely exciting.”
JigTalk, which was founded in Leeds, was the first UK start-up to be accepted into Nasdaq’s Entrepreneurial Centre in San Francisco.