Two years ago, a messaging app startup called IRL reached a $1.2 billion valuation in a $170 million Series C funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Steve Mollman reported for Fortune.

Photo Insert: IRL is shutting down because, like Twitter, it is populated by fakes.
Boasting of its “unicorn status” and noting that it had raised more than $200 million to date, the company described itself as “the leading group messaging social network that brings people together through events and shared experiences.”
CEO Abraham Shafi stated, “Our primary goal at IRL has always been to create more authentic and organic communities.”
Now, Shafi is eating his words as internal assessments and independent reviews showed that 95% of its users were fake, like the millions of bots and flacks rooting for Elon Musk, the same guy who wants to run motor races on Mars, where the environment is so harsh any human would not last four earth years on the planet.
Now, IRL is shutting down because, like Twitter, it is populated by fakes, which destroyed whatever remains of its reputation.
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