UPDATE: I just heard from Andrea and he confirmed that the app's download total is up to 16k, meaning they could double their userbase just this week. Impressive.
Glancee, the little engine that could of the 'meet new people'/'social discovery' space, announced a few days ago it hit 10K users. They've also released a new version of the app with a diary feature that allows you to go back and see who you have been near in the past. While Highlight clearly has the momentum, Glancee has been able to hang in grabbing headlines and keeping pace with the buzz in the space.
Thankfully I'm not at SXSW this year so I can't tell you what's really happening with these apps on the streets, but Highlight continues to get the majority of the press.
Glancee was founded by engineers Andrea Vaccari, Alberto Tretti, and Gabriel Grise. While they haven't announced any funding yet, they're sure to get something. At the moment I would put my money on AngelPad whose founders are spending a lot of time around the app. Investors spurred by Highlight's round will probably be looking for something to jump into. Early momentum plus the three engineering focused founders create a plausible scenario for some sort of exit down the road.
The uphill battle will continue for Glancee. If they don't want to become the Gowalla of the social discovery space they'll need to do something huge. It's less about total installs (although HL is probably well above 50K) or funding as it is perception. With the CrunchFund funding, TechCrunch exclusives (via CF gang), and the core SF following that falls right into Paul's existing network of friends and colleagues, all lend to making Highlight a big success.
That said I enjoy using Glancee's product. It's not the freshest design I've ever seen, but it's easy to use and fun to play with. The battery life holds much better. I also like the founder (Andrea) who seems to be jumping around all over the place to support his product and team. These are the types of people I like to root for so I hope they're able to carve out something for themselves in the space.
