HONG KONG & SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hive Cloud Limited (hive.im), creator of the first social network for file sharing, announced the company secured $500K seed financing. The company plans to use the funding to build out the team based in San Francisco and accelerate scaling of the platform to manage the global growth of the service. The seed funding included participation of Bigcolors, Link11 GmbH, and private angel investors.
Hive, which officially came out of beta this week, is the first social network for file sharing that flips the cloud storage upside down by focusing on the personal content discovery and sharing rather than the traditional pay-per GB model.
In contrast to other companies, which are ending unlimited storage, Hive offers free unlimited storage as well as the ability to share content within groups or lock content in private folders. Hive users can upload any type of file, including documents, photos, music, and video from their device or have Hive itself retrieve files for them, freeing their desktop storage.
Since its beta launch in October 2014, Hive has grown rapidly throughout the world and has been localized in English, French, Japanese, Spanish, and Portuguese with additional markets under development.
“We came out of the gate with a strong start and we are seeing markets around the world lighting up on a weekly basis. It is all product driven, which further validates that our vision of cloud storage is touching consumers in a unique way,” said Thierry Lehartel, Hive cofounder and CEO. “We want to build up on the momentum and pursue an aggressive growth plan, which will be initially fueled by the funding.”
“We chose to partner with Bigcolors and Link11 GmbH, as companies that can advise in developing and driving the adoption of the Hive social network on a global basis. Hong Kong based Bigcolors has the experience and know-how to take Hive deeply into Asia and help with U.S. expansion, while German-based Link11 provides the backbone of the secure and scalable Hive cloud service.”
About Hive
Hive is the first social network for file sharing and offers free unlimited cloud storage. Hive handles any type of content, including documents, infinite photos, massive music collections, and video libraries with ease. Users can upload from their devices or paste in web links and Hive will retrieve the files for them. Hive users can share files and video streams with groups, such as those on their friend lists, or lock their folders for privacy. With no limits, Hive users are free to mix, share, and play what they want, when they want.
The Hive Premium plan offers Hive users an ad-free environment, high-quality music and crystal-clear HD video, and uncapped download and streaming speeds at full bandwidth.
Hive is growing rapidly throughout the world, and can be viewed in English, French, Japanese, Spanish, and Portuguese.
More information can be found at www.hive.im.
