BeReal

01 / WHAT IT BUILT

What the company did

BeReal was a French social media app founded in 2020 by Alexis Barreyat and Kévin Perreau, built around authenticity instead of curated feeds. Every day at a random time all users received a simultaneous notification and had two minutes to post a photo captured with both the front and back cameras at once - no filters, no editing tools, no public follower counts, and no viewing friends' posts until posting one's own. After spreading on French campuses in 2021, it exploded in 2022 through a college ambassador program in the UK and US, becoming Apple's iPhone App of the Year with over 10 million daily active users at its peak. It raised about $90 million (Andreessen Horowitz, Accel, DST Global) at a ~$600 million valuation. User momentum faded through 2023, and in June 2024 it was acquired by French app publisher Voodoo for €500 million (~$535 million) - an acquisition, not a shutdown.

03 / EVENT HISTORY

Events in the structured record

1. 2020
   Founded

   Alexis Barreyat and Kévin Perreau founded BeReal in France; the app launched with its signature daily two-minute unfiltered photo prompt.

2. 2022
   Peak

   BeReal became the #1 social networking app on Apple's App Store and iPhone App of the Year, with over 10 million daily active users and ~47.8 million monthly active users.

3. 2024
   Acquired by Voodoo

   In June 2024 Voodoo acquired BeReal for €500 million (~$535 million) as user momentum waned; co-founder and CEO Alexis Barreyat stepped down, replaced by Wizz CEO Aymeric Roffé.