diff --git a/src/imetrics.erl b/src/imetrics.erl
index ad2d7aa..8742374 100644
--- a/src/imetrics.erl
+++ b/src/imetrics.erl
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 -include("../include/imetrics.hrl").
 
--export([add/1, add/2, add/3, set_exemplar/2, set_exemplar/3, set_exemplar/4, set_exemplar/5, set_exemplar/6, add_m/2, add_m/3, set_info/2]).
+-export([add/1, add/2, add/3, set_exemplar/2, set_exemplar/3, set_exemplar/4, set_exemplar/5, set_exemplar/6, add_m/2, add_m/3, set_info/2, init_counter/1, init_counter/2]).
 
 -export([set_gauge/2, set_gauge/3, set_gauge_m/3, set_multigauge/2, set_multigauge/3, update_gauge/2, update_gauge/3, update_gauge_m/3]).
 
@@ -55,6 +55,11 @@ add(Name, Tags, Value) ->
         end
     ).
 
+init_counter(Name) ->
+    init_counter(Name, #{}).
+init_counter(Name, Tags) when is_map(Tags) ->
+    add(Name, Tags, 0).
+
 set_exemplar(Name, EValue) ->
     set_exemplar(Name, #{}, EValue, #{}, erlang:system_time(millisecond)/1000, counter).
 
diff --git a/test/imetrics_tests.erl b/test/imetrics_tests.erl
index dcc89ce..08caf36 100644
--- a/test/imetrics_tests.erl
+++ b/test/imetrics_tests.erl
@@ -171,6 +171,21 @@ exemplar_test(_Fixture) ->
     ?_assertMatch({1, #{}, _}, imetrics:get_exemplar(#{name => <<"test1">>, '__name__' => <<"l">>})),
     ?_assertMatch({2, #{}, _}, imetrics:get_exemplar(#{name => <<"test2">>, '__name__' => <<"l">>})).
 
+init_counter_test_() ->
+    {setup,
+        fun start/0,
+        fun stop/1,
+        fun init_counter_test/1}. 
+
+init_counter_test(_Fixture) ->
+    Data1 = imetrics:get_with_types(),
+    ?_assertEqual(undefined, proplists:get_value(<<"empty_counter">>, Data1)),
+    ?_assertEqual(undefined, proplists:get_value(<<"empty_counter_mapped">>, Data1)),
+    imetrics:init_counter(empty_counter),
+    imetrics:init_counter(empty_counter_mapped, #{key => "abc"}),
+    Data2 = imetrics:get_with_types(),
+    ?_assertEqual({counter, [{#{}, 0}]}, proplists:get_value(<<"empty_counter">>, Data2)),
+    ?_assertEqual({counter, [{#{key => <<"abc">>}, 0}]}, proplists:get_value(<<"empty_counter_mapped">>, Data2)).
 
 %% get tests
 get_test_() ->