What We Heart It (WHI) does

We Heart It (WHI), operated by Super Basic, LLC, is an image-based social networking platform founded in 2008 and headquartered at 9570 West Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, California. The service enables users to discover, collect, and share images curated around themes of inspiration, using a "ReHearting" mechanic (akin to a favorite/reshare) that drives content persistence and engagement. The platform serves a primarily female-skewing consumer base interested in lifestyle, fashion, design, and inspirational visual content, accessible via iOS, Android, and web clients.

The core product surface is mobile-first social discovery, with technical infrastructure built on standard cloud and analytics tooling including AWS, Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft Azure, Google Analytics, Firebase, and Sisense. In April 2013, WHI acquired Embly, an embeddable media technology, extending the company's distribution surface beyond its native apps into third-party embed contexts. The company has historically run with a small team (reported at 11-50 employees) and has been in private operation since founding, with a privacy policy last revised in mid-2023 indicating ongoing, albeit maintenance-oriented, operations.

WHI's business model combines three revenue streams: (1) advertising (direct and programmatic) sold against the platform's user base and content themes, (2) premium subscriptions offering enhanced features, and (3) virtual currency / coins-based in-app purchases. The company has raised approximately $19.3 million in disclosed funding across three rounds in 2013-2015, including a $5M strategic investment from Warner Media in 2014, with no subsequent equity raises surfaced in the data. WHI sits within the broader visual discovery category alongside materially larger competitors such as Pinterest and Instagram, and its scale relative to those platforms is limited.

Name

We Heart It (WHI)

Legal name

Super Basic, LLC

Website

https://weheartit.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

We Heart It, operated by Super Basic, LLC, is a Los Angeles-based image-based social networking platform founded in 2008 that lets users discover, collect, and share visual inspiration across iOS, Android, and web, monetizing via advertising, subscriptions, and virtual items.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social Media Platform

akta.pro primary industry

Social Audio & Live Community Platforms (BPAMABAH)

Keywords

• Image sharing platform
• Social media platform
• Visual content discovery
• Photo sharing app
• Digital inspiration community

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Advertising: The Services include personalized advertisements based on individual users' Content, queries, and other information. Third-party advertising and technology companies display targeted ads across the Services.
2. Subscription Services: Premium subscription features available with recurring fees (weekly, monthly, or yearly terms). Subscriptions automatically renew unless deactivated by user.
3. Purchase Services: One-time fees for paid applications or premium features. Includes Virtual Items such as virtual currency and points with no real-world monetary value.
4. Virtual Items: Virtual items including virtual currency and points that can be used for purchasing Services. Validity period of three years from purchase. Cannot be resold or traded.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

We Heart It is an image-based social networking platform where users discover, collect, and share visual content centered on inspiration, fashion, travel, lifestyle, and personal interests. The platform operates as a freemium service offering a free core experience with premium subscription tiers and purchasable virtual items (Hearts). It is accessible via web and mobile apps (iOS and Android).

Product overview

We Heart It operates as a unified social media platform and mobile application offered by Super Basic, LLC. The core product is the We Heart It Services, a content discovery and sharing platform where users heart, upload, and share visual content. The service supports user contributions through the main app, web browser extensions, and article submissions. Premium offerings include Subscription Services for special features (with weekly, monthly, or yearly auto-renewing plans), Virtual Items (virtual currency and points with no real-world value), and Trial Versions that convert to paid subscriptions. The platform generates revenue through advertising (including personalized ads based on user content and queries) and optional premium features.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• We Heart It Platform

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Apple Inc.coreTechnology or IntegrationPlatform and payment provider for iOS app distribution and in-app purchases. Handles billing and transactions for subscription and purchase services on Apple devices.
• Google LLCcoreTechnology or IntegrationProvides Android platform distribution (Google Play), analytics services (Firebase, Google Analytics, BigQuery), and cloud infrastructure (Google Cloud Platform) for We Heart It services.
• Amazon.com, Inc.coreTechnology or IntegrationAmazon Web Services (AWS) provides web, app, game software, hosting, database, and API services for We Heart It infrastructure.
• ZendeskminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCustomer support platform used by We Heart It to handle customer service inquiries and support requests.

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Emerging players

• Dribbble: Design inspiration platform with shots, collections, and a paid Pro tier. Comparable in inspiration-feed use case and premium-subscription monetization, though narrower (design-focused).
• VSCO: Photo-editing and visual-content platform with a paid subscription tier and curated feeds. Comparable in inspiration-feed orientation and freemium-with-subscription monetization model.
• 500px: Photography community and marketplace for sharing and licensing imagery. Comparable in user-generated visual content and social engagement mechanics, with a more photographer-centric audience.

Broad incumbents

• Instagram: Meta's flagship image/video social network with global scale. Competes for the same visual-content-sharing use case and target demographic but operates at vastly greater scale with broader functionality.

Direct peers

• Imgur: Image hosting and discovery community built around viral visual content. Comparable in core product (image upload, browse, and share with social engagement) and freemium + ads monetization model.
• Flickr: Photo-sharing community with collections, favorites, and social discovery features. Direct analog of We Heart It's heart/reheart mechanic and inspiration-feed orientation.
• DeviantArt: Art and visual content community with collections, favorites, and a freemium subscription tier. Comparable audience overlap in users seeking visual inspiration and creative content.
• Tumblr: Visual-first blogging and content-sharing community centered on images, GIFs, and fandoms. Closely comparable in product ethos (user-generated visual content with social re-sharing mechanics) and target audience.
• Pinterest: The dominant image-based inspiration and bookmarking platform. Directly comparable to We Heart It's core use case of discovering, collecting, and sharing visual content around interests and aesthetics.
• Behance: Adobe-owned creative portfolio and inspiration platform. Similar inspiration-discovery positioning and visual content-sharing core, with a more creative-professional audience.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/weheartit
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/we-heart-it

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors4 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about We Heart It (WHI)