Will Mobli be able to steal some market share from Instagram? The Israel-based photo and video sharing platform announced on Wednesday that it has received $60 million in funding from America Movil - the Latin American telecom led by Carlos Slim.
"Mobli has developed a remarkable technology and this strategic alliance will allow America Movil to bring value added experiences for its users throughout the Americas," Slim said in a
press release. "The Mobli team has shown extraordinary skills in creating a powerful and innovative product for its users."
Mobli has received a total of $86 million in funding from an eclectic group including actors like Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Lance Armstrong, Serena Williams and Kenges Rakishev.
It lets you scrape your Facebook, Twitter and Google+ contacts for photos, and if you give it access to your Facebook account, you will see all the photos your friends posted without updates. The company has more than 12 million users. A long way more to go compared to Instagram's 150 million.
Shemesh added that one of the big differentiators between Mobli and Instagram is that the former lets you follow subjects and places, not just people.
"For example, people post this last few days to the November hashtag with a mustache selfie. You can follow that hashtag and updates will appear on your feed," he said.