FishBrain launched in Sweden in 2013, and recently hooked its millionth user.  The app allows users to log trips, share catches and browse crowd-sourced information about weather, sightings and fishing hot-spots. Premium users can also access data analysis to improve their performance.  FishBrain allows users to search for information, browse tips and share their catches  The Stockholm-based start-up, which currently operates in Sweden, the US, Canada, Australia and the UK, will use the new funds to grow its presence in North America, establish a US office and expand into Japan.  The UK is estimated to have 4m sport fishers, who spend £3.5bn on the pastime each year.  In the US, 60m people spend their spare time fishing, making the hobby almost twice as popular as golf and tennis combined.  Recreational fishing in the US – FishBrain’s biggest market, accounting for 75pc of its users – contributes more than $115bn in economic output and generates $48bn in angling-related sales. That makes the sport fishing industry in the US around three times larger than the global music industry, which recorded revenues of $15bn last year.  Jean-Claude Bel, chief executive of the European Fishing Tackle Trade Association, told the BBC in 2012 that angling is the most important sporting or outdoor activity in terms of its economic contribution not only in Europe but in the US and Japan as well.  While the US has the largest concentration of fishing enthusiasts, the angling market is estimated to be worth $3.4bn in Japan, which is home to 9.4m recreational rod-casters.  FishBrain founder Johan Attby speaking in Stockholm last month  "We want to expand into Japan not only because fishing is one of the biggest sports and has a long tradition there, but also because smartphone penetration is very high, and conversion rates (from free to pay) are typically very good,” FishBrain founder and chief executive Johan Attby told The Telegraph. “Equally, two of the world’s largest sport fishing manufacturers, Shimano and Daiwa, are Japanese.”  Speaking in Stockholm last month, Mr Attby suggested that future versions of FishBrain could step into e-commerce, charging a commission on sales of fishing-related equipment sold through the app.  He also identified Brazil, which has 25m angling fans, and China, where sport fishing is growing in popularity, as potential future target markets for FishBrain's expansion.  Last year, Netscape founder and serial venture capitalist Marc Andreessen came to the defence of fishing-related start-ups when Fishing Booker, a website that allows anglers to charter boats for their angling excursions, became the subject of Twitter-based derision.  This year's audience award winner at TechCrunch Disrupt helps you book fishing trips. Who says the Valley is out of ideas?  "Silicon Valley doesn't make things for regular people!" "Silicon Valley built a product for regular people who like fishing & it's stupid!"  Newsflash :-): A very large # of hard-working people in middle America love fishing, go on fishing trips, chartered & otherwise.
The social network for avid anglers netted itself another investment from   Northzone, Spotify's biggest external stakeholder, to fuel its international   expansion