Amino Apps

Was a leading niche fandom community platform with a large but declining user base prior to shutdown

Amino Apps was a New York-based mobile platform that launched in 2012, building a network of thousands of niche community apps centered around specific fandoms, hobbies, and interests — from anime and K-pop to gaming and creative writing. Each community functioned as its own mini social network with chat, wikis, polls, and user-generated content, allowing passionate fans to connect in highly targeted spaces. At its peak, Amino claimed over 300 communities and tens of millions of monthly active users, making it one of the largest fandom-focused social platforms in the world. Amino's monetization strategy combined in-app advertising with a virtual goods economy, where users could purchase 'Amino Coins' to tip creators, unlock features, and customize their profiles. This dual-revenue model made it attractive both as an advertising vehicle — offering highly engaged, interest-segmented audiences — and as a consumer app business. The platform was particularly notable in the AdTech ecosystem for its ability to aggregate deeply passionate niche audiences that were difficult to reach through mainstream social media channels. MediaLab acquired Amino Apps in 2023 after its previous parent company, Narvii, had struggled to sustain growth. Following the acquisition, MediaLab announced it would shut down the Amino platform entirely in 2023, ending service for its communities. The shutdown marked the end of one of the more ambitious attempts to build a federated, interest-based social network on mobile, leaving a significant gap for fandom communities that had relied on the platform for years.