A Chat with Johan Attby, CEO at Fishing Social Network Platform: Fishbrain

Fishbrain, founded in 2012, is the world’s most popular mobile app and social network for people who love to fish. Free to download, the app brings fishing into the digital age by giving its 14 million users access to all the tools, gear and data they need to fully enjoy the popular hobby.

Our aim has always been to provide the angling community with the technology to fish smarter and connect easily. Being a Stockholm-based start-up, we have worked hard to scale our operations. We’re extremely proud to have been named twice by WIRED as one of Europe’s Hottest Startups. It’s testament to the great team all of whom are passionate about what they do. Equally, we owe a huge amount to the amazing partners we work with, and of course our loyal user base.

As we welcome the next generation of anglers, it’s exciting to see more and more people joining our platform.
 
 

 

What do you think makes this company unique?

 
At the core, Fishbrain is built upon a deep-rooted relationship with its community. Our platform has changed a lot over the last decade, but we always ask ourselves how this benefits the user experience. It’s the crux of what makes us unique, we communicate and listen to what our community needs to help them. They inform the majority of the features and innovation that we incorporate.

Another aspect that makes Fishbrain unique is our dedication to innovation. As our community has grown, our ability to develop more powerful and creative digital applications has significantly contributed to our growth. Now, Fishbrain users can access dynamic maps that show where they’re most likely to catch fish. In fact, using powerful artificial intelligence features they can even take a photo of a fish they’ve caught and the app will even automatically recognise what species it is.

Fundamentally, we are always looking ahead. By asking what our community wants tomorrow, not just today, we are able to continue to help make fishing more accessible. This 360 view of fishing is how we aim to keep improving the Fishbrain platform and level the playing field for the growing numbers of women, minorities and young people looking to take up the sport.
 

How has the company evolved over the last couple of years?

 
Lots! We’re always looking to upgrade our interface and features, but interestingly the biggest changes for us most recently have been partnerships. Just a few months ago, we successfully acquired Florida-based regulations app Fish Rules, which allows users to check fishing regulations in their area while making them clear and easy to understand. This has helped the fishing community become more sustainable and maintain the fish population’s volume and diversity.

Similarly, we also began working with fishing licence leader Aspira, to increase participation across North America. Both are perfect examples of how we intend to continue expanding our platform.

In terms of updates, this month we released a new Trips feature that allows users to log trips, tag friends, add all catches into one post (rather than several) and see all the fishing spots hit during an excursion.

Going back a bit further, we also made some significant additions to our platform at the end of 2019 when we launched the Fishbrain Shop. Incorporating a social commerce aspect, the Fishbrain Shop allows anglers to purchase gear online or while they’re in the app itself. However, the main advantage to the shop is how it uses data. Rather than shopping in the dark, we were able to combine data from millions of catches made by anglers, meaning that users can see the statistics associated with specific rods, bait and products. Today, the shop has over 500 leading brands from which users can browse.
 

What can we hope to see from Fishbrain in the future?

 
Here at Fishbrain, we plan to continually promote the sustainable harvest of fish species by allowing users to access fishing regulations in more countries. Fishbrain values responsible fishing, supporting a catch and release policy and the sustainable harvest of fish species.

We further promote this through our long-standing partnership with the conservation experts U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission who remain dedicated to the conservation of fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats.

In the future, we plan to continue building long-lasting partnerships with conservation trusts who are equally as dedicated to the conservation of fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats as we are. As for our users, rest assured the team at Fishbrain will be working hard to keep adding new and interesting features to make each fishing trip the most successful it can be!