Amo
Amo is a Paris-based consumer social platform founded in 2022 by the ex-Zenly team, operating two mobile apps: Bump for real-time friend location sharing and Sugar for creative canvas-based chat, distributed globally to teenagers and young adults via the Apple App Store and Google Play on a freemium model.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2022
- HeadquartersParis, France
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Amo does
Amo is a Paris-based consumer social platform founded in 2022 by the team that previously built Zenly. The company operates two flagship mobile apps: Bump, a battery-friendly, real-time location-sharing app that maps friends and places with features such as scratch maps, battery/speed indicators, and navigation integration; and Sugar, a creative chat app that lets users place text, stickers, images, GIFs, videos, and drawings on an unlimited canvas instead of traditional chat bubbles. The platform is aimed at teenagers and young adults aged 13 and over for personal, non-commercial use, and distribution is exclusively consumer-direct through the Apple App Store and Google Play, with 5M+ downloads on Google Play and strong editorial validation including Apple Editors' Choice and a WWDC26 feature.
The technical stack is unusually sophisticated for a startup of this size: a Bazel monorepo houses iOS, Android, web, and backend code; Rust is the primary backend language and is shared across mobile clients via code-generated FFI bindings, enabling a single networking, authentication, persistence, and synchronization layer across platforms. The backend runs on Google Cloud Platform using ScyllaDB for high-throughput NoSQL workloads, PostgreSQL/AlloyDB for consistency-critical workloads, Redpanda for streaming, and BigQuery for analytics. Native integrations with Spotify, Apple Music, Google Maps, Apple Maps, and Uber extend the social graph into adjacent consumer ecosystems. Custom Metal (iOS) and Vulkan (Android) shaders power performance-critical UI elements.
The business model is freemium with optional in-app purchases for paid features, processed through Apple and Google, with the Terms of Service explicitly limiting use to personal, non-commercial purposes. Amo is GDPR-compliant, holds no patents or trademarks in the disclosed record, and is privately held under the legal entity amo SAS, having raised approximately $17.6 million in a March 2023 Series A led by New Wave (VC) with Coatue, DST Global, Bpifrance Digital Venture, Abstract, CASSIUS, and Banana Capital.
Amo firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Amo
- Legal name
- amo SAS
- Website
- https://amo.co
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2022
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- Amo is a Paris-based consumer social platform founded in 2022 by the ex-Zenly team, operating two mobile apps: Bump for real-time friend location sharing and Sugar for creative canvas-based chat, distributed globally to teenagers and young adults via the Apple App Store and Google Play on a freemium model.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Amo is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Paris
- HQ country
- France
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Amo business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- In-app Purchases (Paid Features): Some direct purchases can be made within the Services to access additional features referred to as 'Paid Services'. Prices vary depending on factors and are specified within each Paid Service. Purchase process handled by Apple App Store or Google Play.
- Freemium App Distribution: Core apps are free to download with optional paid premium features. Apps listed as 'Free' on both App Store and Google Play.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Free tier with core location sharing and chat features |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels4 records
Amo product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Amo builds and operates consumer mobile social apps for friends: Bump provides precise, real-time, battery-friendly location sharing with a personal map, scratch map, presence, chat, and navigation; Sugar provides unlimited-canvas creative chat where text, stickers, images, GIFs, videos, and drawings can be placed anywhere. Both apps are free to download globally on iOS and Android, with optional paid features sold via in-app purchases.
Product overview
Amo operates as a social platform for friends offering two complementary mobile apps: Bump (location sharing) and Sugar (creative canvas-based chat). Both apps are available on iOS and Android, with Bump being the primary location-focused product and Sugar serving as the creative communication companion. The company was founded by the team behind Zenly and is headquartered in Paris.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Bump: Location-sharing app that allows users to create a personal map of their favorite people and places with precise, real-time, and battery friendly location sharing. Includes features like live location, scratch maps, chat, and navigation.
- Sugar
Products and services
- Bump A consumer mobile app for real-time, precise, battery-friendly location sharing among friends, featuring a personal map, scratch map of places visited, friend presence and battery indicators, integrated chat, and in-app navigation to friends. Designed for teenagers and young adults (13+) for personal, non-commercial use; available globally on iOS (App Store) and Android (Google Play) as a free download with optional paid features.
- Sugar A consumer mobile chat app that lets users drop text, stickers, images, GIFs, videos, and drawings anywhere on an unlimited canvas, turning conversations into free-form creative expression beyond traditional chat bubbles. Targeted at the same 13+ friend-group audience as Bump; available globally on iOS and Android as a free download with optional paid features.
Quantifiable outcome
- 5M+ downloads on Google Play
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Amo
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Amo technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration5 records
Feature5 records
Amo partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- Apple App StorecorePrimary distribution channel for iOS apps (Bump and Sugar). Handles payment processing for in-app purchases with standard 30%/15% revenue share. App Store is listed as data controller for purchases.
- Google Play StorecorePrimary distribution channel for Android apps (Bump and Sugar). Handles payment processing for in-app purchases. Developer contact: [email protected].
- Google Cloud PlatformcorePrimary cloud infrastructure provider. Hosts all backend services, databases (ScyllaDB, PostgreSQL/AlloyDB, BigQuery), data storage (GCS), and data processing (Dataflow, Dataproc). Infrastructure managed as code with Pulumi.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Amo competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Snap Inc. (Snapchat): Snap operates Snapchat, whose Snap Map feature delivers real-time friend location sharing to hundreds of millions of users — directly overlapping Amo's Bump use case as a feature inside a much broader social platform. Snap is also the acquirer of the founders' previous product Zenly.
- Apple Find My: Apple's Find My is a platform-level, always-on location-sharing service embedded in iOS — a default-installed incumbent that competes with Bump for the friend-location use case on iPhones.
- WhatsApp (Meta): WhatsApp Live Location offers free real-time friend location sharing within the world's largest messaging app — a structural competitive threat to Amo given WhatsApp's billions of users and zero-cost positioning.
Direct peers
- Life360: Life360 is a publicly-traded location-sharing app for family and close friends with real-time maps, place alerts, and battery-optimized background tracking — directly comparable to Bump's core offering, albeit weighted more toward families than friend groups.
- BeReal: BeReal is a consumer mobile social app targeting Gen Z with a counter-trend, 'authentic' positioning and a friend-only sharing model — closely aligned with Amo's teen/young-adult target segment and algorithm-free, friend-first philosophy.
- Glympse: Glympse is a real-time temporary location-sharing app focused on coordinating meetups with friends and family — a directly overlapping use case with Bump's location-and-directions-to-friends flow.
- Yubo: Yubo is a social networking app explicitly targeting teens and young adults (13+) for friend discovery and live social interaction, making it a strong demographic and category peer to Amo's 13+ positioning.
Emerging players
- Locket Widget: Locket is a mobile social app focused on sharing intimate, friend-only content (photos) on the home-screen widget — a close-friends, low-noise philosophy similar to Amo's, targeting a comparable young-adult demographic.
- Marco Polo: Marco Polo is a video messaging app for 'people you actually know,' focused on asynchronous close-friend communication — sharing Amo's algorithm-free, friend-first philosophy with a similar creative-expression angle to Sugar's canvas chat.
- Hoop (by Newness): Hoop is a teen-focused social discovery app for making new friends, sharing similar Gen-Z target audience and viral PLG distribution mechanics as Amo's Bump and Sugar apps.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Amo social profiles
Digital presenceAmo compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
Amo financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Amo leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Amo funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors8 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Amo M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Amo
What does Amo do?
Amo builds and operates consumer mobile social apps for friends: Bump provides precise, real-time, battery-friendly location sharing with a personal map, scratch map, presence, chat, and navigation; Sugar provides unlimited-canvas creative chat where text, stickers, images, GIFs, videos, and drawings can be placed anywhere. Both apps are free to download globally on iOS and Android, with optional paid features sold via in-app purchases.
Is Amo a public or private company?
Amo is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Amo founded?
Amo was founded in 2022. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is Amo based?
Amo is headquartered in Paris, France, in the Europe region.
How does Amo make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. In-app Purchases (Paid Features) is the primary driver. The others are freemium App Distribution.
Who are Amo's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Snap Inc. (Snapchat), Apple Find My and WhatsApp (Meta). Direct peers are Life360, BeReal, Glympse and Yubo. Emerging players are Locket Widget, Marco Polo and Hoop (by Newness).
Does Amo have an API?
No public API is recorded for Amo.