Vurb
AcquiredSan Francisco, US Β· Founded 2011 Β· 5 employees on LinkedIn Β· 6 known investors
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Vurb is a mobile search app that lets people find, save, and act on recommendations for things like travel, entertainment, and dining by combining community suggestions, content, and services in one app. It also allows users to share plans with friends and save ideas for later.
Also known as Vurb, Inc.
Founders & leadership
Vurb was founded in 2011 by Bobby Lo.
Investors Β· 6
Also in the syndicate Β· 1
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Vurb was a mobile search and discovery application for finding, saving and acting on things to do β sights, restaurants, events, movies and music. Results and suggestions were personalized to a user's interests and adjusted for what was trending, time of day, weather and location, and were presented as "Vurb Cards." From a Card, users could read reviews, get directions, make restaurant reservations, buy tickets, stream video and music, and request a ride, without switching between separate apps.
The product added social and organizational layers on top of search. Cards could be saved into "Decks" β dynamic, shareable lists that users could build alone or collaboratively for a city, a travel wish list, movies to watch or playlists. A community of users, including public figures such as chef Michael Mina, published Decks that others could follow for local recommendations. In August 2015 Vurb added Vurb Chat, allowing users to share Cards and Decks and coordinate plans with friends inside the app, with directions, photos and reviews attached.
Vurb framed its rationale as the absence of a contextual layer connecting mobile apps: with more than 2 million apps across major app stores, users typically needed five or more apps and repeated toggling to find a place, book it and share plans. The company has since taken the app offline and out of the app store, stating it is focused on a new project.
Founding story
According to Vurb's About page, the company was founded in 2011 by Bobby Lo. Lo was Vurb's sole founder and CEO and had previously been a management consultant at Boston Consulting Group covering consumer, travel and technology; earlier he started a software company at 15 and co-founded Yodle, a search advertising company later acquired by Web.com. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in Computer Science from MIT and a bachelor's in Management from MIT Sloan.
Business model
Vurb offered a free consumer mobile app on iOS and Android that aggregated third-party content and transactional services (reviews, reservations, ticketing, streaming, ride hailing) into a single interface. The sources do not describe how the company generated revenue.
Not described in the available sources.
Traction
Vurb reported winning TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2014, being named a "Best New App" by Apple and TIME after its early-2015 iPhone launch, and building a worldwide community of local recommendations. TechCrunch records $14.8M raised as of January 1, 2025, while the founder's mentor bio cites over $10M raised. The company was acquired by Snap for a reported $114.5M.
Latest developments
Vurb's website states the app has been taken offline and removed from the app store while the team focuses on "an exciting new project." TechCrunch lists Vurb's operating status as acquired. Founder Bobby Lo now angel invests in and advises startups, and serves as a mentor with Mucker Capital.
βΈFull profile β market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Vurb positioned itself as a contextual alternative to conventional mobile search; TechCrunch characterized its 2014 Disrupt appearance as an attempt to "steal mobile search from Google" and described the post-chat product as aiming to become a U.S. equivalent of WeChat. It was reported at acquisition as Snapchat's largest acquisition at the time.
Vurb described itself as the only search app going beyond search by combining community recommendations, rich content and transactional services in one personalized app, letting users complete actions (reservations, tickets, rides, streaming) from a single Card rather than switching among multiple apps or a mobile browser.
Technology
A personalization and aggregation layer for mobile: "Vurb Cards" combined community recommendations, rich content and third-party services into single actionable units, ranked using signals including user interests, trending activity, time of day, weather and location. Cards could be grouped into shareable "Decks," and Vurb Chat embedded these objects in messaging. Clients existed for iPhone, Apple Watch and Android.
Go-to-market
Vurb reached consumers through free iOS and Android app distribution, amplified by its TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2014 Startup Battlefield win and app-store editorial placement (Apple and TIME "Best New App"). It also cultivated community-generated Decks and tastemaker/celebrity curators, and published user profiles on its blog to encourage discovery and sharing.
Consumers using smartphones to find local activities, dining, entertainment, events and travel ideas, and to share plans with friends; blog features highlight travel-oriented and experience-seeking users.
Geography
Vurb was based in San Francisco. Its user community spanned locations worldwide, with the company describing local recommendations built "all over the world"; blog profiles feature users in San Francisco, Paris and Seattle.
History
Vurb was founded in 2011 by Bobby Lo, its sole founder and CEO. It won Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt NY in May 2014, having raised more than $1.5M in February 2013 and $8 million announced in August 2014. The iPhone app launched in early 2015 and was named a "Best New App" by Apple and TIME; an Apple Watch companion app followed, and in August 2015 Vurb released an Android app and added Vurb Chat. In August 2016 TechCrunch reported Snapchat was acquiring Vurb for more than $110 million; Snap disclosed in February 2017 that it paid $114.5 million. Post-acquisition the founder led product initiatives at Snap, including Context, and TechCrunch reported in September 2018 that he had departed. TechCrunch's company profile lists a founded date of 2014, which conflicts with the 2011 date given on Vurb's own About page.
Risks & controversies
The available sources note that the product was ultimately discontinued β taken offline and removed from the app store β and that Vurb's CEO departed Snap in September 2018, in reporting that also referenced Snapchat shares hitting an all-time low. Source documents also disagree on the founding year (2011 per Vurb's About page versus 2014 per TechCrunch's profile).
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources β announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed β not independently audited.
Timeline Β· 9
launches, deals, and filingsTechCrunch reported that the CEO of Snap's search acquisition Vurb left the company.
Snap disclosed that it paid $114.5 million to acquire Vurb, alongside details of the Bitstrips and Looksery acquisitions.
$114.5M source β
TechCrunch reported Snapchat was acquiring the mobile search app Vurb for more than $110 million; Snap later disclosed the acquisition price as $114.5M.
$110M source β
Vurb's website states the company took the app offline and out of the app store to focus on a new project.
After releasing an Apple Watch companion app, Vurb launched an Android app and added Vurb Chat messaging in August 2015.
Vurb launched its iPhone app in early 2015 and was subsequently named a "Best New App" by Apple and TIME.
$8M source β
Vurb was named the winner of TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2014's Startup Battlefield competition.
$1.5M source β
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
βΈResearch sources Β· 8
primary sources listed
- Vurbvurb.com Β· web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Vurb do?
- Vurb was a San Francisco mobile search, discovery and messaging app acquired by Snap Inc. in 2016.
- Who founded Vurb?
- Vurb was founded by Bobby Lo in 2011.
- Who are Vurb's investors?
- Vurb's investors include Redpoint Ventures, Vivi Nevo, DCVC (Data Collective), CrunchFund, Stanford University.
- Where is Vurb headquartered?
- Vurb is headquartered in San Francisco, US.