John Legend is branching into new territory: tech entrepreneurship.
The Grammy-winning singer is launching his first-ever tech startup, a social app called It’s Good. It will give personalized restaurant and travel suggestions.
He recently spoke about the app at the Tech Live conference presented by the Wall Street Journal.
“It’s actually not even built for negative comments,” Legend said onstage at the event. “Either you recommend it or you don’t.”
He’s already banked $5 million in pre-seed round of funding from Lightspeed Venture Partners.
“Over the past few years, we have started relying on the opinions of strangers on Yelp, Trip Advisor or Google Reviews,” Nicole Quinn, a partner with Lightspeed wrote in a blog post. “These strangers may not have similar taste to us, may not give authentic reviews… and may even be a bot. Instead of following thousands of strangers, why not follow the few people whose taste you most respect and admire?”
The firm has a celebrity filled business portfolio that includes Goop (Gwyneth Paltrow), Haus Labs (Lady Gaga), Autograph (Tom Brady), and The Honest Company (Jessica Alba).
“Being associated with a Hollywood power couple who boast a combined 50 million followers on Instagram brings immediate visibility to It’s Good, lending it a cachet other social startups struggle to match,” she stated.
This is Legend’s latest business venture in his growing roster of entrepreneurial pursuits that also includes a skincare line.
“Our skin is beautifully rich and colorful, but it also needs constant care, love, and healing,” he said. “Our goal is to create high-quality yet accessible products because everyone should experience the joy of beautiful and healthy skin.”