Who Made Instagram? The Founders and Origin Story

Key takeaways

• Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger built and launched Instagram together in San Francisco.
• The app went live in Apple's App Store on October 6, 2010, and hit 25,000 users on day one.
• Instagram started life as Burbn, a cluttered check-in app the founders stripped down to just photo sharing.
• Facebook acquired Instagram in April 2012 for about $1 billion in cash and stock.
• Both founders left Meta by 2018, though Systrom later returned in an advisory role.
• Today Instagram sits under Meta alongside Facebook and Threads, run by a different leadership team.

Who actually built Instagram?

Kevin Systrom wrote the original code and Mike Krieger joined as co-founder and engineering partner, and together the two turned a stalled side project into one of the biggest apps in the world. Systrom had worked at Google and later at a startup called Nextstop before deciding to build his own product; Krieger, a Stanford classmate, came on board once Systrom needed a technical co-founder who could move fast.

What was Instagram before it was Instagram?

Before it was a photo app, it was Burbn, an HTML5 check-in service that let people log locations, plan meetups, post pictures, and earn points for hanging out with friends. Users found Burbn overwhelming, so Systrom and Krieger cut everything except the one feature people actually used — sharing photos — and rebuilt the app around that single idea. That stripped-down rebuild became Instagram, and the same discipline about cutting features still shows up in how the app rolls out tools like reposting today.

When did Instagram officially launch?

Instagram launched publicly on October 6, 2010, and the response was immediate — 25,000 downloads on the first day and one million users within under three months. That kind of growth curve is part of why so many people still ask how does Instagram work at the level of algorithm and reach, since the platform's scale changed how content spreads almost from the start.

Why did Facebook buy Instagram?

Facebook bought Instagram in April 2012, about 18 months after launch, for roughly $1 billion in cash and stock — a move meant to secure a fast-growing mobile-first rival before it became a bigger threat. The deal is a big reason people now ask does Meta own Instagram, and the answer traces straight back to that 2012 acquisition rather than anything more recent.

What happened to the founders after the acquisition?

Systrom and Krieger stayed on to run Instagram inside Facebook for six years, then both resigned in 2018 citing a desire to explore creativity again outside the company. Systrom later returned to Meta in an advisory capacity, but neither founder currently runs day-to-day product decisions — that's now handled by Meta's own leadership, separate from the people who originally made the app. If you want the full ownership picture, who owns Instagram breaks down the current corporate structure.

How does Instagram's origin compare to other apps of its era?

That quick jump from a struggling check-in app to a billion-dollar acquisition in under two years is unusual even by startup standards, and it's part of why Instagram's founding story still gets referenced whenever someone asks how old is Instagram or looks up when Instagram was created.

Does it matter who made Instagram if you're just using it?

Not for day-to-day use, but the origin story explains a lot of design choices still visible in the app — the focus on visual content over text, and the instinct to simplify rather than pile on features. If you're setting up an account today, that same simplicity shows up in basics like how to post on Instagram, which hasn't strayed far from the original one-feature focus Systrom and Krieger settled on in 2010.