November 19: Made-in-India apps are beginning to see popularity across the country and worldwide. As India’s startup and VC ecosystem progresses, reaching new frontiers in technological progress, newer home-grown online communities are emerging. The government’s Atma Nirbhar Bharat initiative has led to a rapid rise in Indian social community apps. Here are some home-grown social communities that have garnered mass appeal across India:
Kutumb
Kutumb was founded in 2020 and was launched as a content sharing app where users could send one another images, videos and news. The app offers community channels that users can join and engage with based on their own personal interests. With the app being available in eight regional languages, Kutumb enables users from across India to discover and participate in like–minded social communities. The app currently has over 6 million monthly active users and has over 1 crore downloads on the Google Play Store.
Koo
Koo is a microblogging platform that allows users to seamlessly communicate with one another in their mother tongues via text, audio and videos. Users can express their thoughts in the form of 400 character long text posts and one minute long audio recordings and videos. With a strong focus on local, vernacular interaction, Koo enables the growth of regional influencers that are able to connect better with local audiences. The Koo app currently has over 1 crore downloads on the Google Play Store.
Mylo
Mylo is one of the largest communities of new and expecting mothers. It is a leading full-stack platform, providing a suite of educational content and digital health tools for pregnant women, new mothers and those trying to conceive. Backed by ITC, Mylo also sells its own line of branded D2C mothercare and babycare products. Currently the Mylo app has a community of over 5 million mothers and 10 million young parents where they can look through free-to-access educational content and a Mylo Clinic, where one can book online consultations with medical specialists. The app was launched in 2018 and is currently available in English, Hindi, Bengali and Telugu. So far, the Mylo app has over 50 lakh downloads on the Google Play Store.
SHEROES
SHEROES is a women-oriented community platform offering support, resources and opportunities to women from all sorts of backgrounds. The app also includes a dedicated ask SHEROES helpline where community members can talk to counsellors on all aspects of their growth journeys. SHEROES offers its enterprise customers a range of products including Brand Solutions, SHE – prevention of sexual harassment at work platform and a Managed Remote Solutions program. So far, the app has over 10 lakh downloads on the Google Play Store.
Leher
Leher is a live discussion platform that allows users to join live voice chat rooms on any topic that may interest them. Users can perform a live Q&A, share polls and send direct messages to one another. The host of any live conversation can invite their friends to join in. Users may also add stickers and emoji comments to make the conversation more entertaining. Leher is an emerging platform and has recently crossed the 1 million monthly active users mark and has over 10 lakh downloads on the Google Play Store.
The rise of these home-grown social community platforms indicate that India’s internet users are highly drawn to localised online forums that are available to them in their mother tongues, to allow for more personable and deep interactions. As business-friendly government initiatives and a thriving entrepreneurial spirit reach new heights in the country, we will begin to see an increased proliferation of social community & networking channels that are made by Indians for Indians.
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