GIF sharing platform Loopcam is reaching out to the more privacy-conscious by allowing new users to sign up without an existing Facebook or Twitter account. The move comes in the wake of the Prism scandal and with the Berlin startup’s userbase now primarily in the US.
In addition, the latest release of Loopcam also introduces custom user avatars and an improved on-boarding experience.
The company described the decision to loosen its sign up rules as a “brave step towards privacy and integrity”, and Loopcam CEO Tor Rauden Källstigen said: “Taking the step towards a more transparent signup process was a pure no-brainer. We’ve gotten tons of requests from people unwilling to connect their apps with Facebook and Twitter accounts. So we decided to listen up, and get down to business.”
Loopcam has taken the idea of putting a piece of 1980s technology front and centre and run with it, becoming one of Berlin’s surprise hits since its launch in 2011. It received six-figure funding from a star-studded list of investors, including Christophe Maire, Felix Petersen, Peter Read and Alex Ljung. Now Loopcam has stated its aim is to become the “main player of animated LOL on the Internet” and taking advantage of the growing interest in moment sharing in the grey area between standard photography and video.
The platform has been targeting the lucrative Chinese market in recent months but also faces stiff competition from the likes of Twitter’s Vine service.