Retro, a social app designed for sharing photos and videos privately with close friends and family, has raised more than $21 million in Series A funding.

The funding was revealed in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by Retro’s parent company, Lone Palm Labs. The filing was dated August 19, although the funding deal reportedly closed in December.

Founded in 2022 by former Instagram engineers Nathan Sharp and Ryan Olson, Lone Palm Labs launched Retro in 2023. The app started as a personal photo journal and later added features for private sharing including weekly photo collections, shared albums, recaps and a “Rewind” feature for revisiting older memories.

Retro does not rely on advertising. Instead, it uses a freemium subscription model, with its premium plan costing around $36 per year. Paid features include video posting, GIF and sticker comments, additional design options, unlimited post history, and special app icons.

The app has gained significant traction since its launch. According to app analytics data, Retro has been downloaded around 7.8 mn times and has around 1.7 million monthly active users worldwide. User spending on the app has also increased sharply in recent months.

Retro has attracted investors including Thrive Capital, Scribble Ventures, Imaginary Ventures, Box Group, Figma CEO Dylan Field, Coalition, Conviction, Copper, Positive Sum, and Uncommon Projects.

The company is reportedly valued at more than $100 million, according to PitchBook estimates.

With the new funding, Retro is positioned to continue expanding its private social networking platform as users increasingly look for alternatives to traditional, ad-heavy social media apps.