IMVU Inc. Celebrates Nine Years of Connecting People Around the World, Expands Profitable Business to Mobile

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., April 8, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- IMVU Inc., an online social entertainment destination where members use 3D avatars to meet new people, chat, create and play games with their friends, is celebrating nine years of bringing people together across the globe. Additionally, the company announced it is extending the IMVU experience beyond the desktop with two new mobile applications for Android and iPad devices, enabling IMVU customers to always stay in touch with their friends. IMVU 2Go for Android allows existing IMVU customers to stay connected and chat with friends. The IMVU iPad app is a standalone experience offering 3D chat and avatar customization for new or existing users. IMVU 2Go for Android will be available in late April and IMVU for iPad will launch in the second quarter of 2013.

IMVU was founded in 2004 and now operates profitably with an annual revenue rate of more than $55 million. IMVU features the world's largest user generated virtual goods catalog, containing more than 15 million products with more than 16,000 new products added daily. A select group of talented IMVU customers, known as Creators, create nearly all the products available in the IMVU Shop. To date, there are more than 500,000 Creators in the IMVU community, some of whom generate more than $100,000 in annual revenue through the sale of virtual goods.

"For nine years, we have empowered our customers to foster new friendships, explore their creativity and develop the content that they want through the IMVU platform. We focused on connecting people and built a product where the immeasurable talent of our community is showcased, recognized and rewarded," said Brett G. Durrett, Chief Executive Officer of IMVU. "We're excited that expanding to mobile will be a great way for current customers to stay connected and an opportunity for new customers to discover IMVU's community."

A pioneer of the Lean Startup approach, IMVU continues to quickly address and adapt to customer feedback, delivering product improvements to customers up to 50 times per day. Agile development is, and continues to be, at the cornerstone of IMVU's long term success.

"IMVU is where the Lean Startup began. When we started, we built the company with the specific intention of delivering product to the customer, period," said Eric Ries, founder of the Lean Startup movement. "The agility of the business to quickly address the needs of its customers and the ability to incessantly challenge the status quo are what make IMVU the innovation machine it is today."

IMVU initially began as an online chat client and has evolved into an online social entertainment destination. To date, the company features more than 111 million registered accounts, allowing millions of unique users per month to interact through IMVU's engaging online social environment.

About IMVU, Inc.

IMVU, Inc. (www.imvu.com) is an online social entertainment company where members use 3D avatars to meet new people, chat, create and play games with their friends. IMVU has more than 111 million registered accounts. IMVU has the world's largest virtual goods catalog of more than 15 million items, almost all of which are created by its own customers. Founded in 2004, IMVU is backed by venture investors Menlo Ventures, Allegis Capital, Bridgescale Partners and Best Buy Capital and is located in Mountain View, CA. For more information, please visit http://www.imvu.com/   

Media Contact:
Abbygail Reyes
IMVU, Inc. 
650.428.6207
[email protected]

SOURCE IMVU Inc.