From Viral to Voodoo

BeReal launched in 2020 but detonated in 2022, when Sensor Tower ↗ estimated it accumulated tens of millions of downloads in a matter of months — driven entirely by a single mechanic: a daily two-minute window to post an unfiltered dual-camera photo, simultaneously front and back. No filters, no scheduling, no algorithmic curation. The novelty was the constraint.

Peak download volume came in mid-2022. The app ranked among the most-downloaded social apps globally that summer, reaching a reported 70 million registered users by late 2022. What followed was the retention problem that afflicts every novelty-first product: Sensor Tower data showed monthly active users declining sharply through 2023 as the daily-prompt mechanic, which had no content discovery layer and no creator economy, gave users diminishing reason to return.

An adult looking at a smartphone screen in an indoor public space, the phone screen bright against the ambient light, face visible and in focus
A phone in an indoor public space, which is where all of this is finally settled.Photo: Faheem Ahamad / Pexels

The advertising model that might have monetised that user base never arrived in any meaningful form. BeReal's founders — Alexis Barreyat and Kévin Perreau, based in Paris — had built the product on an authenticity premise that sat awkwardly beside display advertising. The company ran a small test of paid promotional "RealAds" in 2023, but it generated no reported revenue at scale before the acquisition closed.

In June 2024, Voodoo ↗, the Paris-based mobile games and apps publisher, announced it had agreed to acquire BeReal for €500 million. The deal closed later that year, with Voodoo stating it intended to build out advertising revenue on the existing user base. Voodoo's own business is built on high-volume, ad-supported casual mobile games, making the pairing a straightforward bet: the distribution asset was real; the monetisation infrastructure was Voodoo's to provide.

Chronology

  1. 2020BeReal founded in Paris by Alexis Barreyat and Kévin Perreau
  2. Mid-2022peak global download surge; top-ranked social app that summer
  3. Late 202270 million registered users reported
  4. 2023monthly actives decline; "RealAds" test generates no meaningful revenue
  5. June 2024Voodoo acquisition announced at €500 million

The arc is a clean illustration of a recurring pattern in consumer social: virality and retention are separate problems, and retention and revenue are separate problems after that. BeReal solved the first, only partially addressed the second, and never seriously attempted the third — leaving its acquirer to start the monetisation clock from nearly zero with a declining but still substantial base.