Secret Raises $25 Million, Adds Index Ventures' Danny Rimer to Board

Anonymous mobile sharing startup Secret said today that it has raised a new $25 million in funding, in a Series B round led by Index Ventures and Redpoint Ventures.

That’s on top of an $8.6 million round just four months ago, reflecting a newly buzzy interest in social networking divorced from real names. In a blog post, Index Ventures partner Danny Rimer — who is joining Secret’s board — said the app reflects a social need not fulfilled by the likes of Facebook and Twitter.

“Ultimately the need to share and express one’s self is driven by our desire not to be alone,” Rimer wrote. “Secret is essentially a form of online graffiti; a place where we can truly unburden ourselves of potentially controversial thoughts — to our friends, our company, and our society.”

The big lingering question is whether it’s okay that anonymity stokes not just honesty, but also lies. In that battle, Secret is joined by other anonymous apps like YikYak and Whisper, which raised $30 million in March.

At the time of this writing, Secret is not in the top 1500 downloaded apps on the iOS App Store, according to mobile analytics firm App Annie. It’s the 132nd highest ranking app in the social networking category.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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