We Heart It, an image-based social network for people who love visual expression, has seen its monthly user base expand in the U.S. and internationally to more than 20 million users. And it hasn't spent a single dollar on marketing.

"We Heart It started as a quick and simple way to organize images I found inspiring from around the web. It is exciting to see what started as a personal passion grow into a service that millions of people love," commented Founder Fabio Giolito. "From the beginning, our users have been our biggest promoters, encouraging rapid growth by sharing with their friends and endorsing We Heart It via social media. To date, we've been focused on the product and users but we're now ready to share more information about the business we're building and what we expect to achieve."

Since launching the business in 2011, this visual social network has been steadily capturing passionate users and has recently reached the following milestones:

Expanded its executive team with recent additions of CEO, Ranah Edelin and President, Dave Williams. Both are experienced entrepreneurs and executives from companies such as Electronic Arts, Rhapsody, MTV Networks and others
Raised over $8 million in seed and Series A funding from a group of experienced media and technology investors including White Oak and IDG Ventures. The funding will go towards team expansion and product development
Adding 1 million registered users per month, over 2/3 of them via its mobile apps
A highly engaged user base: We Heart It members spend more than 16.5 minutes / user session on the web and visit the mobile apps more than 25 times / month on average.

"We see a big societal shift towards in-the-moment, visual expression," said Ranah Edelin, CEO of We Heart It. "This change has spurred rapid growth for We Heart It, and we are proud to be part of the new visual-centric social ecosystem along with Instagram, Tumblr, and Pinterest. With new capital and talent," Edelin continued, "We Heart It is well-positioned to continue innovating on a service that has captured the hearts of users worldwide."

About We Heart It

We Heart It is an image-based social network focused on inspiration, expression and creativity. The service has a community of over 20M global monthly unique visitors who use We Heart It to discover, collect and share images with friends on its highly rated mobile apps and website. We Heart It is adding a million registered users per month, 2/3 of whom are mobile users. The company has raised more than $8 million in funding and is located in San Francisco, CA.