That feels like we have all been there: You send some funny TikTok video, hoping your friend will have this great reaction when you get it right back at you-and then you end up getting some basic laughing emoji, or worse, no response at all. Seene is trying to solve this with its new social app, wherein friends record a live video reaction to content you send them.

The video messaging app, available for iOS devices, was co-founded by seasoned entrepreneur Faheem Kajee and actress Karen Gillan, best known for her role as Nebula in "Guardians of the Galaxy." Using Seen, you send your videos privately to one other person as a one-on-one iMessage or to up to 11 people in a group chat. Once recipients receive content, they have to shoot a video back and it would only be released to the sender and mutual friends in the group chat. Then, the sender has to respond back with a video wherein they react on their friend's reaction. The company means that its app will realize an authentic and engaging way in interacting with friends.

One of the most featured aspects of the app is its integration with TikTok, making it easy to share videos from your friends on Seen directly from the TikTok application. The application allows you to surf through a scrollable feed of popular TikTok videos and upload videos directly from your camera roll of iPhone. In the releases to come, the app will integrate with YouTube Shorts as well as Instagram Reels.

It was first spotted on the App Store last week and currently has thousands of users. The company revealed that an Android version will be available shortly, but no specific date was given for the launch.

Our broad aim, our chief goal, is to create a platform that helps people connect with one another in a way that feels very real, Kajee told TechCrunch. [Sharing video reactions] is better than just getting a thumbs-up back. It prompts a broader conversation and there's a sense of results from seeing somebody's reaction.

Kajee has co-founded three other startups such as the drink company named Moment, an e-commerce platform called Initial and also a social app fashion found which was formerly Pashash. Meanwhile, it will be the first time that Gillan sets up a tech startup.

"[Gillan] has been involved in both the actual conceptualization and the nitty-gritty process, which has been amazing and very unexpected for a big Hollywood actress…Karen is really helpful for the distribution stuff," Kajee said.

It already had a movie star as one of the founders who would use his fame to increase user growth, and notable investors supported it with $1 million, including Twitter co-founder Ev Williams, Twitch co-founder Kevin Lin, former Crunchyroll CEO Kun Gao, founding CEO of Rotten Tomatoes Patrick Lee, and so on.

The developers seem to have taken the criticisms of Snapchat firsthand. It reacts to private video messages, which is the first version of the Seen application. It will then roll out a public feed to find other users and is even pondering the potential for popular content creators to connect with fans one-on-one to get their reactions before uploading the videos. Other potential uses for the app might include standup comedians testing new jokes or watching the reaction of an "investor when they open a pitch deck," said Kajee. Additionally, the company will add monetization through premium services like games and filters within the app. They also wish to advertise. But Seen has an interesting approach which focuses on gathering user reaction data.

When you scroll through the feed, there would be some content from users, some content from friends and some content from advertisers," said Kajee. Users will be allowed to respond to an ad; Seen will then compile "anonymised data on aspects such as the type of emotion, areas where an individual paid attention, and the degree of attentiveness." Reactions to ads are accessed only by Seen, not the other user or the advertiser.

"Those data points are so valuable, and it's something that nobody else has access to, which makes it really interesting," he said. Reaction messenger apps have been a staple among startups over the past — such as Gather, Reactr and Samba — yet didn't seem to catch fire as founders may have hoped.

Now, 10 years after the launch of Tinder, Seen appears on the online scene at a moment when people are increasingly craving online interactions that offer authenticity and depth, as do youth.

The founders of the app believe this app would fill the gap for genuine interactions at a moment when loneliness has already become an epidemic for many.