An app founded by a Manchester United fan who took issue with an article written by Paul Merson about Paul Pogba has secured a multi-million pound boost.
Chatloop has raised £2.1m through a seed funding round from private investors and has already set its sights on a wider Series A raise midway through 2024.
The company, which is based in Ancoats, has grown from three to 11 employees over the last year and previously raised £1.5m at the end of 2022.
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The new funds will allow Chatloop to increase user numbers and engagement and create jobs.
The mobile app lets people loop in their friends to content on any website has also now been awarded default browser status by Apple.
The company is led by chief executive Andrew Barlow who also co-founded digital adoption platform AppLearn.
Mr Barlow came up with the idea for the business after taking issue with a transfer story written by Paul Merson about Paul Pogba, who was at Manchester United at the time.
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Finding no way of responding to the report directly on the team's website, Mr Barlow came up with a new type of web experience, bringing in elements from social media and enabling conversations to happen at the source of the content, on the site itself.
He said: "Being awarded default browser status by Apple is a huge milestone for the Chatloop team, who have worked tirelessly for the last ten months to ensure our app meets Apple’s stringent integration requirements.
"Our world-class browser is faster than both Chrome and Safari and default browser status across Apple’s products means that billions of people across the world can now enjoy the benefits of Chatloop every time they go online.
"Chatloop is bridging the gap between brands and users by making it much easier to share the things you love as you browse. Apple’s endorsement and the generous backing of our investors will supercharge our mission to deliver a people-first web experience that works for everyone."