Ex-Facebook Live manager launches live-streaming app with a focus on the personal

If you like the idea of live-streaming but are put off by the public exposure that comes with posting your broadcasts to massive social networks, Alively could be the app for you.

Created by former Facebook Live manager Vadim Lavrusik, the new app for iOS offers an intimate sharing experience in the vein of Snapchat, with an emphasis on live-streams.

Once you download Alively, you can pick and choose who to alert about your real-time broadcasts by syncing the app to your contacts list. If you forget to add someone, you can simply select to notify them during the live-stream itself.

The app also limits the interactions you can receive from viewers to just comments — no hearts and likes here. All your footage is saved to the app’s servers in the cloud in order to save precious storage space on your smartphone. The company claims that it offers high-quality live-streams due to a 30-second delay in the broadcast, which ensures viewers receive a clear image. Additionally, the contacts you select to have tune in to your clip don’t even need to have the app installed to start watching. Your intended viewers can be sent videos via SMS that will automatically play within their messaging platform in their original quality.

Alively is backed by a wealth of talent, including the aforementioned Lavrusik, and the co-founders of Upfront Media Group, Ray Lee and Vincent Tuscano. The company has already secured $800,000 in seed funding from venture capital firms including SV Angel and Greylock Partners.

“We want to make it easy and fun to capture and share those everyday moments as they happen with friends,” the company said in a statement. “Real moments that go beyond the highlight reel. Moments that people in our lives wouldn’t want to miss. Shared moments, in real time. We think the best way to do that is through high-quality, privately shared live video, so friends can share and experience that moment with you as if they’re there.”

Having worked on Facebook’s live-streaming behemoth, Lavrusik knows a thing or two about the format. Unlike his time at the social network — which saw him lead Facebook’s rollout of the exclusive Mentions streaming app for celebs and influencers — Lavrusik is now pursuing what he calls “narrowcasting.”

“I learned a ton from working on Facebook Live about what motivates people to not only share live, but also watch live,” Lavrusik told VentureBeat. “But the thing we’re really focused on is creating a good experience for … sharing live or recorded video to just a few people.”

Alively is available to download for free on iOS right now in the U.S.