Mobile News App Circa Launches Its Web Platform For Browsing And Following Stories

Circa, a startup that offers quick and mobile news consumption, is expanding its services to the web by launching its online platform for following and sharing news. While the website doesn’t have the full functionality of the iOS app, the company aims to complete it later this year.

The mission of Circa News, the startup’s iOS app, is to give readers the main points of each relevant news story. Circa’s team of 10 writes stories optimized for mobile with several key points. This speeds up news consumption and potential bias that may come from long-form and opinion pieces. Users can browse specific categories and follow stories they are interested in.

“We’re doing a lot of things to bring the web more in line with our mobile,” co-founder and CEO Matt Galligan tells me. “It’s about closing that loop.”

The Circa website will allow users to access the news they want more often, which Galligan tells me is to expand the company’s reach. He declined to disclose user numbers, but the last time we checked he said Circa had seen a few hundred thousand downloads. Galligan added that according to Flurry, Circa users spend 50 percent more time in the app than on average in other news apps.

Circa is also working on adding a breaking news feature, adding news categories and user interface improvements, Galligan tells me. New areas of coverage that Circa News is looking into include business, finance, entertainment and sports.

Galligan says what sets Circa News apart is that the stories are written for mobile, rather than a longer reading experience. “Our intent is not to make a summary; it’s not to make something smaller,” he tells me. The app takes all the need-to-know facts and quotes only, which is a different approach from mainstream news apps or popular apps such as Flipboard.

Circa has raised $1.65 million in seed funding and is planning on bringing its app to Android and iOS 7 soon.