The archive · Consumer Apps · Product decision · 2025–2026
Catchr's Pokémon-Go-for-fishing bet: 200K downloads, chart No. 1s, then sold
A Georgia Tech grad gamified fishing with photo ID and leaderboards, hit $500K ARR and No. 1 charts on TikTok growth alone, then sold.
Catchr
What the business is
Catchr is an iOS app that identifies fish from a photo, estimates weight and length, logs catches and bait notes, and ranks anglers on global leaderboards.
Starting capital：CREATE-X Startup Launch seed funding from Georgia Tech (amount undisclosed); otherwise bootstrapped.
How it started
Matthew Steele, a 2025 Georgia Tech CS graduate, launched Catchr in April 2025 with co-founder Brock, after earlier products (HairMatch, UPic, SantaCalls) taught him App Store operations, support and revenue expectations. Georgia Tech's CREATE-X Startup Launch program supplied seed funding, mentorship and a validation framework. The bet, in Steele's words: make fishing feel like "a real-life version of Pokémon" — fun, social and competitive.
What happened
Within roughly 90 days Catchr reached about $40K monthly recurring revenue (~$500K ARR) and 65K downloads a month, powered by 58M TikTok views generated almost entirely by Brock's single account (54.6M views from April 12, 2025) using a two-second hook, an in-app demo and "Pokémon Go" headlines. By January 2026 it had nearly 200,000 downloads across 170+ countries, climbed to No. 13 on the US App Store sports chart and reached No. 1 in France and Croatia.
How it ended up
Acquired: Steele sold Catchr to a buyer who committed to expanding its capabilities and investing in continued growth; Georgia Tech reported the sale on January 5, 2026, with Steele returning to early-stage building.
Background
Catchr is an iOS fishing app that identifies fish from a photo, estimates weight and length, logs catches and bait notes, and ranks anglers on global leaderboards. Launched April 11, 2025 by Georgia Tech graduate Matthew Steele with co-founder Brock, it was built on the idea that fishing could feel like "a real-life version of Pokémon" — fun, social and competitive.
The growth engine was TikTok, not ads: two founder-run accounts (almost all views from Brock's) stacked 58M views within three months using a two-second hook, an in-app demo and "Pokémon Go" headlines, driving roughly $40K monthly recurring revenue (~$500K ARR) and 65K downloads a month by July 2025.
By January 2026 Catchr had nearly 200,000 downloads in more than 170 countries, climbed to No. 13 on the US App Store sports chart and reached No. 1 in France and Croatia. Steele then sold the app to a buyer who committed to expanding its capabilities and investing in its growth, ending the startup as an independent company.
What has to be true
- Fishing had no dedicated gamified social layer, so photo ID plus leaderboards made Catchr stand out in the App Store sports category almost immediately.
- Founder-run TikTok replaced paid acquisition entirely: 54.6M views on one account in ~90 days turned a $0 marketing budget into 65K monthly downloads.
- Niche community mechanics — personal bests, bait notes, global leaderboards — created repeat engagement and word-of-mouth across 170+ countries.
- The exit was deliberate, not accidental: Steele interviewed multiple buyers on their long-term product plans before selling.
What can be applied
Pick a niche hobby with no dedicated social layer, gamify it, and let one founder's TikTok feed be the whole growth engine — charts and an exit can follow with zero paid acquisition.
Aftermath
As of September 2026, Catchr remains live on the App Store under Smolworks Inc (last updated April 1, 2026), run by the buyer that committed to expanding the product. Founder Matthew Steele returned to early-stage building, saying he would not change the decision to sell. The chart run and acquisition were reported by Georgia Tech's research news on January 5, 2026.
Sources
- Georgia Tech Student's Fishing App Catchr Becomes Global Hit Before Acquisition
- Pokémon Go for Fishing Reaps 58M Views & $40K MRR
- Catchr: Fish Identifier — App Store listing
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