Justin Bieber Led A $1.1 Million Investing Round In Social Networking App To Be Released This Week

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He’s not the first person to pop into your mind when you think of an investor. Pop singer Justin Bieber has led a $1.1 million investing round in a social network startup called “Shots of Me.” Not much has been revealed about Shots of Me, aside from the fact that it will be geared towards teenagers—which is fitting, because the majority (if not all) of Bieber’s fan base consists of tweens and teens—and that the network is has been developed by brothers John and Sam Shahidi, who also developed the RockLive brand.

According to Fortune, Bieber led the seed round for Shots for Me, which included other investors such as boxer Floyd Mayweather (who Bieber is a close friend of), venture capitalist Shervin Pishevar, and angel investor Tom McInerney.

The brothers behind RockLive weren’t aware of Bieber’s interest in their products until the singer began tweeting about their games and discussing his progress. Since then, RockLive CEO John Shahidi says that Bieber remained involved by testing product and giving feedback.

“When we told him that we were looking to create a social network for teens that really addresses what they aren’t getting on other networks, and which tries to deal with things like cyber-bullying, his eyes just lit up,” John Shahidi told Fortune.

Not many details have been revealed about Shots of Me beyond this, but the game will be released on the Apple Store later this week.

Thought Bieber is less likely to seem the investor type, he’s certainly a tour de force when it comes to social media. His 46.5 million Twitter followers makes him the second most followed person on Twitter, treading closely behind fellow pop singer, Katy Perry. Aside from Twitter, he was discovered on YouTube.

“Social media helped launch my career,” he told Forbes last year. “Without the Internet and without YouTube, I wouldn’t have gotten the chance to put my music out there and have people hear it.”

Here’s a roundup of what we’ve gathered for Bieber’s investments thus far:

  • In 2009, he invested in a startup whose name has not been revealed.
  • Last January, he made a join investment with talent manager Scott Braun for $1.5 million in TinyChat
  • In May, he invested in the rating-based smartphone app, Stamped, for an undisclosed amount (Ellen DeGeneres also invested)
  • He also invested in Spotify, but the company refuses to discuss its arrangement with Bieber
  • Invested in Viddy, a video-sharing app, in  May 2012 (singer Shakira also invested in Viddy during its last round of funding)

It seems as though Bieber is on to something here. His involvement in each company he invests in varies. With Spotify, he was very hands off, and the company did not promote their ties with Bieber. With Viddy, he posted his own photos and videos from the account, gaining a massive following for the program. Until Shots of Me is officially released, we won’t be able to see how he’ll handle this one.