Social:Pepul (social network)
 Official logo | |
| Type of business | Private |
|---|---|
Type of site | |
| Available in | Multilingual |
| Founded | 2020 |
| Headquarters | Chennai, Tamilnadu, India |
| Country of origin | India |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Owner | Pepul Tech Pvt Ltd. |
| Founder(s) |
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| Industry |
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| Employees | 50 (As of Mar 2022) |
| Website | www |
| Commercial | No |
| Registration | Optional |
| Users |  (1 million+) (April 2022) |
| Launched | January 26 2022 |
| Current status | Active |
| Native client(s) on | iOS, Android |
Pepul is an Indian social networking platform designed and developed based out in Chennai, India.[1] [2] Founded by Suresh Kumar G[3] The platform connects like-minded people based on their common interests and facilitates a medium for everyone to showcase their stories and talents. The app was launched[4] on Republic Day of India, January 26, 2022, and reached half a million downloads on the play store within 50 days of launch and followed by another half-million download in the next 28 days. Pepul claims that it is the world's first to democratise verified badges to all users in a social networking platform through self-based Aadhaar verification. The app prioritises the privacy of its users and offers a safe social networking experience by eliminating the room for anonymity with verified profile users. This app available on iOS[5] and Android[6] stores.
History
The app's private beta testing was launched in February 2021 with a few sets of users. However, the app gained high traction among its early users and led to almost around 2 lakhs users across 177 countries signing up for the private beta testing.Later, the beta test users become a part of the core community members of the Pepul app.The app was launched through a Digital event on 26th January, 2022 and thousands of its community members supported the Digital Launch by creating the “I am a Proud Supporter of Pepul” social campaign.Pepul app reached more than 1 million Downloads on the 14th of April, 2022.
Features
In Pepul app, users can posts their daily life stories and showcase their talents in which they are passionate about.
- The Pepul platform desires to embrace a positive culture in its ecosystem and eliminates negative and hate content through its moderation policies.[7]
- The interest-based social networking platform that highly prioritises users’ privacy and without any intrusive ads or snooping into privacy.
- The app provides verified badges to everyone on the platform, irrespective of their follower base and other criteria. To get a verified badge on the app, the user needs to verify their identity through Aadhaar e-verification. Incase of abroad users, they need to verify their identity either through government IDs or social profiles.
- Pepul chat, the app's built-in messaging service, provides lightning-fast message deliveries and comes with an end to end encrypted security feature.
- Pepul Moments, through which users can turn their photos into videos and can create slideshows, video albums and much more.
- In the recent app updates, Pepul introduced 3D camera masks, AR filters, and an all-new Trending section that comes with a faster, more intuitive interface.
Funding
As of January, Pepul raised ten crores (1.5 million dollars) in seed funding from prominent investors such as venture capital firm Hourglass Ventures, Girish Mathrubootham, Freshworks founder and Paytm's Vijay Shekar Sharma.[8][9][10][11]
References
- ↑ Kandavel, Sangeetha (2022-01-11). "Chennai-based start-ups Pepul and IppoPay get funding" (in en-IN). The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/chennai-based-start-ups-pepul-and-ippopay-get-funding/article38243762.ece.
- ↑ "Paytm, Freshworks Founders Back Interest-Based Social Media Startup Pepul" (in en-US). 2022-01-12. https://inc42.com/buzz/interest-based-social-media-platform-pepul-raises-1-5-mn-in-seed-funding/.
- ↑ Jan 11, Sindhu Hariharan / TNN /; 2022; Ist, 18:07. "Chennai-born social network Pepul raises $1.5 million - Times of India" (in en). https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/chennai-born-social-network-pepul-raises-1-5-million/articleshow/88835416.cms.
- ↑ Jacob, Shine (2022-01-17). "1,000 biz owners to launch Paytm founder-backed social media Pepul on R-Day". Business Standard India. https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/1-000-biz-owners-to-launch-paytm-founder-backed-social-media-pepul-on-r-day-122011700908_1.html.
- ↑ "Pepul-Social Network app" (in en-GB). https://apps.apple.com/in/app/pepul-social-network-app/id1571517301.
- ↑ "Pepul:Social media from India - Apps on Google Play" (in en). https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pepul.socialnetworking&hl=en_US&gl=US.
- ↑ "Rules of engagement: The great Indian social media dream" (in en). https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/technology/rules-of-engagement-the-great-indian-social-media-dream/2322123/.
- ↑ "Pepul, a social network founded in Chennai, has raised $1.5 million.". https://thetimesbureau.com/pepul-a-social-network-founded-in-chennai-has-raised-15-million-202201/.
- ↑ "Chennai-born social network Pepul raises $1.5 million" (in en-IN). https://www.msn.com/en-in/money/topstories/chennai-born-social-network-pepul-raises-1-5-million/ar-AASEYzY.
- ↑ Ghosh, Shrabona. "Pepul Raises INR 10 Crore in Seed Funding" (in en). https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/412721.
- ↑ "Pepul, Chennai-Based Social Media Startup, Raises Rs 10 Crore In Seed Funding". https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/pepul-chennai-based-social-media-startup-raises-rs-10-crore-in-seed-funding-2705153.
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