What is the history of Ascend Viral?
Ascend Viral started in 2016, when our founder, Ethan Adams, turned what he’d learned running Instagram pages into a guide. We launched our growth assistants in 2018. In 2026 we built an AI that studies viral Reels, and Ascend Viral became Ascend.
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The years that shaped us
- 2014
Ethan started running Instagram pages about fitness and health, and learned what made them grow.
- 2016
He wrote it all down in a guide called Instagram Domination. Readers got a private message board to share tips. That was the start of Ascend Viral.
- 2018
We launched our growth assistants on ascendviral.com: real people who grow an account by hand. With Shivankar Gupta, we built our growth team in India.
- 2021
We opened a second office, in North Africa, led by Nabil Aissa.
- 2022
Ethan put a free three-hour Instagram course on YouTube.
- 2023
Our YouTube series Growth Grades reviewed 50 other Instagram growth services. We also formed Ascend Viral LLC in Wyoming.
- 2024
We planned a content creation service, led by Ethan’s brother, Caden Adams.
- 2026
We started building Ascend in March, as a dashboard for our growth clients. It grew into an AI that studies viral Reels for you.
In July, Ascend moved to its own home at app.ascend.so, and Ascend Viral became Ascend.
Why we built Ascend
After years of growing accounts, we kept seeing the same thing. The accounts that grow fastest study what’s already working in their niche.
That takes hours of scrolling. So we built something that does it for you.
What stayed the same
Ascend Viral is now Ascend. Same people, same story, one simpler name.
The hands-on growth service is still here. Inside Ascend it’s called the Growth Plan. More about the name.
Since 2016, 10,000+ creators and brands have grown with us.