Nicky Blackburn
September 23, 2012

Photo and video sharing company Mobli, has raised $22 million in a second round of financing.

The company, which has attracted investors like Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Lance Armstrong, and Serena Williams, raised $20 million from Kazakh businessman Kenges Rakishev, and the rest from previous investors.

New York and Israel based Mobli has developed an app for mobile devices that allows users to share photos and video clips in a range of areas, see what others are watching in real time, and comment on the clips. The idea for the company came when founder and CEO, Moshe Hogeg was at a concert and could barely see the stage because people ahead of him were holding up their phones to film the show.

Mobli, which has five million registered users, and 20 million unique users a month, was founded in 2010, and has raised a total of $28 million. The company’s value is now more than $100m.

This is the second time Rakishev, one of the most influential businessmen in Kazakhstan, has invested in an Israeli company. He also invested $5m. in cloud storage solutions developer TriPlay Digital Content. Rakishev will join Mobli’s board of directors.

Hogeg, the former social media manager at Nike, said that he plans to use the round to continue funding the innovation and development required to make the app the premier destination for mobile photo and video sharing. 

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