Startup profile for Instagram: what they do, why they are interesting, stage (acquired), industries, and links to our funding articles. Part of the Venture Capital Tracker startup directory.

Startup profile · funding coverage

Instagram

Instagram’s mobile photo app reached 30M users before Facebook acquired it for $1B days after a $50M Series B.

Stage

acquired

Status

acquired

Coverage

full

Why Instagram is interesting

Filters plus a social graph at phone-camera scale — Sequoia and Benchmark doubled their money in four days when Zuckerberg bought the company in April 2012.

Key facts

  • Series B (Apr 2012): $50M led by Sequoia; Benchmark, Greylock, Thrive participated — TechCrunch
  • Exit (Apr 2012): Acquired by Facebook for ~$1B — four days after Series B closed
  • Reached 30M users at time of acquisition

Investors in our directory

Funds linked from Instagram's profile — open a fund page for stage focus and related deal articles.

Industries

Consumer Media & Entertainment

Industry hub pages are rolling out from our fund-derived baseline taxonomy.

Related funding articles

Venture Capital Tracker pieces that cover Instagram's financing or category context.

FAQs about Instagram

Funding context and why this company shows up in venture coverage.

Instagram was a mobile photo-sharing app with filters and a social graph that made phone-camera photography shareable at scale.
Andreessen Horowitz (see /fund/andreessen-horowitz), Sequoia (/fund/sequoia), Benchmark (/fund/benchmark), Thrive Capital (/fund/thrive-capital), and Greylock Partners (/fund/greylock-partners) backed the company.
Instagram raised a $50M Series B in April 2012 led by Sequoia — days before the Facebook acquisition.
Instagram proved mobile-first social photo at scale; its $1B acquisition four days post-Series B is one of venture's fastest exits.
Facebook (now Meta) acquired Instagram in April 2012 for approximately $1B. It operates as part of Meta.

Last updated: 2026-07-24