BeReal was downloaded by everyone in 2022 and stalled at 25 million

BeReal launched in 2020 as the anti-Instagram: once a day, at a random moment, users had two minutes to post one unretouched photo of wherever they were. In 2022 it was the fastest-growing app in the world — around US$600 million valuation in May 2022 after US$90 million raised from DST Global, Andreessen Horowitz, Coatue and Accel.

The strict format was the appeal, then it was the ceiling. Growth stalled at around 25 million daily users; Instagram and TikTok cloned the mechanic onto their existing networks, and BeReal had nothing else — no feed to scroll, no creators, no reason to stay once the novelty wore off.

By 2024 the company could not raise a Series C. In mid-June 2024 French casual-games maker Voodoo acquired BeReal for €500 million (about US$537 million) — below the 2022 valuation — and co-founder and CEO Alexis Barreyat was replaced.

Weeks later Voodoo laid off 28 of BeReal's 60 staff across engineering, QA and marketing, saying it wanted the app run 'in a sustainable way'. The app that promised authenticity ended up as a division of a hypercasual games company.

Sold for €500M, below the 2022 valuation, after clones copied the mechanic; 28 of 60 staff were cut weeks later.

The product was a gimmick with a clock: one post a day is a ritual, not a network — once the two-minute countdown became routine, there was nothing to stay for.

Purity was the strategy, and clones ate the growth: refusing feeds, filters and creators kept the concept pure while Instagram and TikTok copied the mechanic onto their existing networks.

No monetization, no moat: with no ad business and users who left as fast as they came, growth stalled around 25 million daily users and the Series C never arrived.

The exit priced the decline: the €500M sale to a casual-games maker — below the 2022 valuation — plus 28 of 60 staff cut weeks later, showed what the hype was worth.

A viral format is a feature, not a business: if the product gives users no reason to stay after the novelty, the only exit is selling the nostalgia.