The app was developed by Alexis Barreyat,[1] a former employee of GoPro,[3] and gained popularity with Gen Z in early 2022.[2][4] It spread widely first on college campuses, partially due to a paid ambassador program.[3][5] By April, it had been downloaded over 6.8 million times, with the majority of the downloads coming in 2022.[1] BeReal received a $30 million funding round from Andreessen Horowitz.[3]