Much-hyped GIF sharing platform Loopcam has launched a redesign of its camera – and it seems CEO Tor Rauden Källstigen has gone a bit, well, loopy with joy, declaring: “We’re very merry proud with this great leap forward.”
The startup has taken the idea of putting a piece of 1980s technology front and centre and run with it, becoming one of the surprise hits of 2012 from Berlin. It received six-figure funding from a star-studded list of investors, including Christophe Maire, Felix Petersen 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.
And to that end, the Loopcam camera has been completely redesigned in the iOS app. Tor said: “Insights from our creative users drove us to make a total revamp of the main core of Loopcam.” In addition to the new camera, the company has also brought back the Ghost layer feature, removed in the last update, which helps users to animate stop motion “like a pro.”
Dubbed a “flip book for the Tumblr generation,” Loopcam works by allowing users to capture up to 50 frames one at a time, which are then put together and shown as an animation. Having launched the platform in 2011 as a bit of fun, Tor and his co-founders were surprised to see it become a hit, with users sharing and reacting to each other’s loops.
Having attracted a fair bit of attention, investment wasn’t far behind – also taking part in the round were SoundCloud’s Eric Wahlforss, Zoe Adamovicz, Peter Read, Heilemann Ventures and Passion Capital.
The startup has set its sights high with a recent entry into China while video mash up platform Weavly has integrated with Loopcam’s API.