Phew. Things have been moving fast since we launched Highlight a month ago. It’s been so exciting to see the app in the wild and to hear about your experiences with it. People are getting notified when friends are around the corner, using it to remember people’s names, and seeing random hidden connections wherever they go. We used to imagine these things when we first started building the app, and now they are actually happening. It’s really exciting.

We’ve been hard at work this past month and today we’re happy to share a few announcements with you:

Funding.  Now that we have the paperwork in order, we can officially say that we’ve closed a round of funding.  Benchmark Capital led the investment, with participation from SV Angel, Crunchfund, and a great group of angel investors. They have all been incredibly helpful and we’re really excited to have them be a part of things as we work towards the big vision we have.

Worldwide launch.  Until now Highlight has only been available in the U.S., but starting today it is available worldwide in the App Store. With Highlight in more countries, we think there is very real potential to change how we travel and to create meaningful connections across borders. Imagine being in a cafe in Iceland and discovering that the person next to you knows your sister, or backpacking in Thailand and seeing friends of friends all around you. We can’t wait to hear the stories that come in.

SXSW!  We’re also in the process of getting a new version of Highlight ready in time for SXSW.  We want Highlight to make Austin even more fun for you - by surprising you with hidden connections, surfacing information about the people you meet, and helping you remember these people when you bump into them at a random New York coffee shop a year later.  You can expect to see some useful enhancements to search and discovery, new ways to interact with people, and continued improvements to performance and battery life.

We’ll be on the ground in Austin from March 8-14th and would love to meet as many of you as possible.  Look for lots of neon colors and the Highlight street team around the show. We have some fun things planned for everyone, so please make sure you install the latest updates to find out about them.

Stay tuned for more details in the coming week!