The photo-sharing app startup co-founded by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger is Instagram.
Instagram grew out of Burbn, an earlier mobile check-in project created by Systrom. After Krieger joined the project, the pair narrowed its focus to photographs, simple social interaction, and mobile sharing. They launched Instagram for iOS in October 2010.
The name combines ideas associated with an “instant camera” and a telegram. Early Instagram was deliberately streamlined: users posted square photos, followed other accounts, and applied distinctive filters. That focus helped it spread rapidly, unlike broader services such as Flickr or location-centered apps such as Foursquare.
Facebook, now known as Meta, agreed to acquire Instagram in 2012 for approximately $1 billion in cash and stock. Systrom and Krieger remained involved for years afterward but left Facebook in 2018. A frequent mix-up is crediting Facebook as the original creator; it became Instagram’s owner, not its founding startup team.