Spotted, a German start-up behind a “social discovery” app, raised $14.5 million to support its further development and international expansion.

The company says the app uses a “hyperlocal approach to real life and brings together people who cross paths every day”, using anonymous messages to initiate contact. It believes it differs from other dating apps because it does not focus on “visual impressions”.

The iOS and Android app reaches more than a million people in cities including Paris, London and Seoul.

Participants in the capital round, alongside current investors, were Media Ventures and Wolfman Holdings, both from Germany.

Spotted, founded in 2013, has also secured a long-term media partnership with Media Ventures, and access to “advertising formats and penetration with various partners in the out-of-home sector and digital advertising channels”.

CEO Nik Myftari, who is preparing for another financing round with US investors, said the company plans to “break the 10-million-user threshold” in another year.

“In the past 11 months we have built and developed one of the best-known social discovery apps in Germany, Switzerland and Austria with a small budget and extensive optimisations, and are currently expanding very quickly into other countries as well,” he added.