Time to make Tracks

It's been an interesting path for Tracks, a mobile photo sharing app that hopes to connect users around what it calls the "experience graph". "We came out at TechCrunch disrupt in May," says founder Vic Singh. "But then we relaunched in September and found some real traction. That let us put together a seed round and it feels great to go into the new year with some momentum and capital,"

Today the company announced a $1 million seed round from General Catalyst, TMT Investments, Eniac Ventures (where Mr. Singh is a general partner), AppFund, BHV Ventures, Harbor Road Ventures, Atventure.us, and a handful of angels investors including Photobucket founder Alex Welch, who will be joining the company's board. "It's a big validation to us that Alex is so interested in the company, given his history in photos."

Mr. Welch built up Photobucket into one of the web's biggest photo sharing sites, eventually selling it to Fox Interactive for $250 million. “I’ve spent time with Vic and the Tracks team for the last few months and was continually impressed with their maniacal focus on building a beautiful product and their ability to crystallize a powerful and big vision around mobile social networks” said Mr. Welch in today's press release.

Tracks lets users build micro-social networks. So, for example, a group of users could make a track for their vacation, making it simple for them all to share photos to the same place and interact with them. Tracks can be pegged to a certain location or span of time, so there are comparisons to be made to the original Color. Users could create a track that lasts for the duration of the Super Bowl, for example, and allows people within a certain range of the stadium to contribute.

"We're not at the hockey stick growth just yet," says Mr. Singh. "But this funding shows we can stand out in a very crowded space."