Chatloop secures £2.1 million investment

  • First UK company to be awarded Apple default browser status, joining Microsoft and Google as one of nine third-party default browsers worldwide – now available across 4.2 billion devices globally
  • Revolutionary start-up announces official UK launch, following investment to unlock next stage of growth on path to Series A in 2024
  • Innovative technology offers personalised recommendations and content from people you know and trust, as research shows (48%) of consumers worry that recommendations and reviews about companies and brands online can’t be trusted

MANCHESTER, Monday 4th September: Chatloop,the unique mobile app that lets people loop in their friends to content on any website, anywhere, has been awarded default browser status by Apple – the only UK app to have received this accreditation, which means Chatloop is now available on 4.2 billion devices globally.

Chatloop now sits proudly alongside two other European browsers and eight others globally,  including Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Mozilla’s Firefox, who also share this title.

The accreditation follows a £2.1m seed funding round from private investors as Chatloop announces its official UK rollout following a year of record growth.

The funds raised will allow Chatloop to drive user numbers and increase engagement, build out the internal team, and continue its fundraising ambitions. Launched in the UK in Beta in December 2022, the business has grown from 3 to 11 permanent employees in the past year and is set to pursue a wider Series A raise midway through 2024.  

Andy Barlow, CEO of Chatloop says:

“Being awarded default browser status by Apple is a huge milestone for the Chatloop team, who have worked tirelessly for the last ten months to ensure our app meets Apple’s stringent integration requirements. Our world-class browser is faster than both Chrome and Safari and default browser status across Apple’s products means that billions of people across the world can now enjoy the benefits of Chatloop every time they go online.

“Chatloop is bridging the gap between brands and users by making it much easier to share the things you love as you browse. Apple’s endorsement and the generous backing of our investors will supercharge our mission to deliver a people-first web experience that works for everyone.”

The investment will also drive forward the implementation and delivery of Chatloop’s Open Innovation Programme for brands, which is partnering with notable brands across the retail, travel and hospitality sectors, to co-create the company’s business proposition.

A THG representative commented:

“Personalisation in a digital landscape and building emotional connections with customers are just a few of the common characteristics that unite the world’s leading brands. Brands that understand and embrace the individuality of their customers offer a unique opportunity to cultivate lasting relationships by making a mass market offering feel one-to-one.”

Founded in 2021 by CEO Andrew Barlow, an experienced technology developer and former co-founder of digital adoption platform AppLearn, Chatloop combines a world-class browser that is faster than Chrome, Safari or Firefox with the best aspects of social sharing, allowing consumers to share as they browse give and get recommendations and loop in their friends, by creating shareable content ‘loops’ directly on the page.

With Chatloop, there is no need to copy and paste links, switch between multiple apps, or spend time writing online reviews that get lost in the noise. Chatloop allows consumers to instantly share valued experiences in the place where it matters the most – on the website itself.

Chatloop uses Face ID to verify its users, meaning every loop created is written and seen by real people – addressing concerns amongst consumers that the everyday web experience can’t be trusted.

According to new research undertaken by Chatloop, almost half (48%) of all consumers worry that recommendations and reviews about companies and brands they see online can’t be trusted and over a quarter don’t trust reviews on Google, Facebook, Yelp and TripAdvisor because they don’t know who has written the reviews.

A further quarter (27%) worry that algorithms mean they’re not getting the true picture about a product, brand or story and 1 in 4 (23%) say they believe most online reviews about companies and brands are generated by bots and AIs.

Today’s announcement coincides with the rollout of the latest update to the Chatloop app, offering advanced profile creation, innovative scroll functionality and media upload features to make it more seamless for user types to create profiles suited to their needs and making it easier to navigate the web.

Download the latest version of the Chatloop app on the App Store or Google Play.

 – ENDS –

Notes to Editor:

For further information, please contact Transatlantic Entertainment

Eloise Keightley: [email protected]

About Chatloop

Chatloop was founded in April 2021 by CEO Andrew Barlow, an experienced technology developer and former co-founder of digital adoption platform AppLearn. 

Barlow came up with the idea after taking issue with a breaking transfer story about his favourite football team, Manchester United. Finding no way of responding to the report directly on the team’s website, Barlow conceived of a new type of web experience, bringing in the best elements from social media and enabling conversations and engagements to happen at the source of the content, on the website itself. By the end of the year, he had built a working demo, and Chatloop was born.

Tannya Anastasya

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