Mark Cuban Backs TikTok Rival That Uses BlueSky Technology: How Skylight Is Changing The Game

Entrepreneur and investor Mark Cuban is one of several backers of a pre-seed round of Skylight, a startup seeking to rival TikTok, an app that could have new owners in the U.S. soon.

What Happened: Skylight uses the AT Protocol, the same technology that helps social network Bluesky, which is one of Cuban's favorites.

The startup released its mobile app publicly Tuesday after 10 weeks of development, as reported by TechCrunch.

The short-form video app was developed by co-founder Tori White and Reed Harmeyer. The duo said Skylight features in-app video editing tools, public comments and likes along with the ability to set up user profiles and follow other users.

Since the app is built on the AT Protocol, Skylight can also be seen and engaged with by the more than 33 million existing Bluesky users.

Cuban funded a pre-seed round for Skylight. Graham & Walker Venture Fund was also an investor in the round.

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Why It's Important: White and Hermeyer said they were inspired to create Skylight when news of TikTok being banned in the U.S. broke.

While the potential TikTok ban is on pause as a buyer is shopped for, Skylight could be set to benefit from being ban-proof by using the underlying Bluesky technology, for the decentralized social media network.

White was a travel influencer worried about losing all of her past TikTok videos, which she has backed up. While she may have the videos, she fears that she could lose the comments and access to her community following she built.

Skylight supports video uploads like TikTok, but also wants to make sure users can customize their feed in the future, giving creators more control. This could include sounds, duets, stitching, bookmarks, playlists and more, according to the report.

Cuban previously said he was interested in backing apps similar to TikTok and are created with Bluesky in mind.

The Skylight app is available in the Google Play Store and Apple’s iOS store.

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