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At midnight last Friday , Alphonzo Terrell hold up a glass of Dom Pérignon and pledge his one - yr anniversary of beinglaid off at Twitter .
If it were n’t for that moment , he would n’t be in Austin at anAfroTechafter - party , surrounded by thousands of citizenry who now know his name and his social media app , Spill . As a competitor to the platformnow known as X , Spill hails itself as a safer topographic point for Black Americans and the LGBTQ community and has pile up around 200,000 user , he said . This past year , the app , which is still in beta mode , has raised a total of $ 5 million in pre - seed funding , let in a late $ 2 million extension round lead by Collide Capital .
“ We put an invite - only beta in June , and within three weeks , it went viral , ” Terrell told TechCrunch . “ Suddenly , we ’re supporting a metropolis , we have data price , we have substructure , we have to speed up our building time , so we really needed an extension to do that efficaciously . ”
His journeying with Spill started last year at AfroTech . He arrived at the conference just days after being laid off from what was then Twitter , alongwith about 3,000 othersamid Elon Musk ’s accomplishment . Terrell hopped on a call with former Twitter confrere DeVaris Brown about a business theme and spend three daylight in an Airbnb creating the rake deck for what became Spill . At AfroTech , he went around taking last - minute coffee berry meetings , see who would give his party a chance . Flash - forward to this year and Spill is the nerveless fry in town .
So many apps have recoil up over the last year in an endeavor to become “ the young Twitter , ” but no app has egress as the prevalent refuge for disillusioned Twitter user . thread , Instagram ’s suppose “ Twitter killer , ” got100 millionsign - ups within five days ; the decentralized platformMastodonhas1.8 million monthly active users ; and the smaller upstartBlueskyhit1 million usersin September . Though still in genus Beta , Spill ’s community of 200,000 user may seem little in comparison , but Spill ’s cost increase has shown that quality matter just as much as measure — that building a strong core community is just as valuable as high - amphetamine growth , even if the traditional speculation model may not always incentivize thoughtful mathematical product development .
“ If you have a great experience , you ’re going to uprise , ” Terrell said . “ particularly in a world where you have so many web — there are all these choices that hoi polloi conceivably have — you ’re gon na go to the one where you have the swell experience and require to put your time . ”
Another app that spun out from place - off former Twitter employees , Pebble(formerly T2 ) , of late exclude down after a twelvemonth , growing to just 20,000 show user . Its CEO , Gabor Cselle , previously had exits toGoogleandTwitter , but accept that Pebble simply was n’t competitive enough to stay afloat . But while Pebble sought to essentially clone Twitter , Spill ’s team is build something that bet very little like it .
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“ People are looking for something newfangled , ” Terrell said . “ I think things that have really defined , unique time value propositions are snuff it to win over the long term — it might not be like there ’s one winner - take - all . ”
Earlier this year , TechCrunch coveredthe founding of Spill , piquing the interest of Kapor Capital , which ended up indite the companionship its first curb .
“ We had over 25,000 people unite our waiting tilt in less than 24 hr from that article , ” Terrell say .
This weekend , as CEO , Terrell carry the AfroTech degree double : once to interview Mitch and Freida Kapor , the beginner of Kapor Capital , and a endorsement to reveala new app feature : Tea Party , which is standardized to Instagram Live . The first user to host a Tea Party was actress Kerry Washington . Terrell ’s next dream Tea Party legion ? Keke Palmer , who is already on Spill . So are other cultural icons like Questlove , Ava DuVernay and Janelle Monáe .
“ Tea party reflect the community that we have always spoken very clearly that we are here to centre , ” Kenya Parham , Spill ’s Global VP of Community and Partnerships , told TechCrunch . “ Black communities , odd communities , women , non - binary and femme stories are all the way at the forefront , and the community is just eat on it up . ”
Anne Griffin can attest to that . She ’s a mathematical product coach based in New York and signed up for Bluesky , Spill and Threads last yr . Out of those three , Spill is the only one she is still systematically using . “ It feels much more frozen in authentic connection , ” she told us about the app , praising its product feature . “ In a earth where many social media algorithms centre on engagement at any toll , it ’s refreshful to have an app that is focused on engagement around community in cultivation . ”
Washington , meanwhile , bring together the platform organically ; Spill has “ not give for a single acquisition to date , ” Parham read , which speaks to the influence and respect that the app ’s leadership has established in the entertainment and technical school industries . Before Spill , Terrell led marketing squad at HBO and Showtime ; Parham ran her own strategic communications consultancy , working with a laundry list of major production studios . So , already , Spill has wooed publicizing partners like Netflix , Lionsgate , VH1 , Showtime and Sony Pictures .
spillway has come to be a bright billet in the post - Twitter epoch . Users are organizing in - someone meetups in Atlanta , New York and “ Spillicon Valley . ” At AfroTech , Spill gave out customized tea suitcase created with the help ofNigerian - American tea leaf sommelierswhile line work to utilize a Spill - branded 360 tv camera at a house party , inspired by an actual trend on the app where the great unwashed divvy up photos of themselves on Fridays .
The app is set to exit beta and open to the public next year . As Terrell antecedently hash out with TechCrunch , the app has plans to pay off Godhead for their ethnic contributions to the app , which is specially authoritative forBlack creators in the creator economic system .
“ We do n’t get reference for all the contributions that we make , ” Terrell said of Black artists in the space .
Despite the robust year , however , the story for Spill is just begin , with AfroTech reminding Terrell of how far they ’ve come , but also how far they have to go .
“ To be able to make something for the residential area , it ’s just really beautiful , ” he said .
Update , November 7 , 2:20 post-mortem : Spill ’s germ extension is $ 2 million , not $ 2.75 million .
Twitter is a mess , so former employee are creating Spill as an alternative
Three months ago , he was laid off from Twitter . Now , his competing app Spill is funded .
