There has been a sea change in the last decade in how Indians interact with each other, share, and consume content. Internet and mobile phone connections have galloped and overnight transformed the character of digital connectivity in India. Among the several domains where innovation occurs, social media is the most transformative force.
This environment has bred a significant push on “Made in India” platforms that have been growing with the impetus given through the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative and an awakening within the consumer community. Developers from India are geared up to develop localized platforms of preferences, languages, and sensibilities that would address this melting pot nation.
Indian apps, which bridged the gap, also created their own identities in an industry that otherwise was dominated by giants from outside. These platforms, designed with local cultures and communities in mind, have niches for safe, familiar expressions of entertainment and commerce.
India has proved that it can do world-class digital solutions yet cling to its traditions, and these apps emerging from the country remind one of how significant its contribution can be to a nation’s social and digital directions. Here is the text with the nine most widely used social media applications in India about changing India and its social as well as digital fabric.
| S. No. | Top 9 Popular Social Media Apps Made in India |
| 1. | ShareChat |
| 2. | Moj |
| 3. | Roposo |
| 4. | Chingari |
| 5. | Koo |
| 6. | Trell |
| 7. | Mitron |
| 8. | Public |
| 9. | Lokal |
1. ShareChat
Source: Business Today
This was initiated in 2015 and currently forms one of India’s largest social media platforms. This app is of a local brand that caters to all the regions that speak and are reflected in over 15 Indian languages. What makes this unique is its promotion of inclusion and catering to users who might not fully communicate in English or have very little speech proficiency.
Important Features of ShareChat:
- Multilingual: This simply means that a user can discuss the content to be shared in his/her mother tongue.
- Library with Multiple Content: The app entertains users with a sound library of trending videos, memes, and local news.
- Real-time Chat Rooms: ShareChat has the unique feature of having chat rooms. Here, individuals who share an interest can talk in real time.
- Private Messaging: The website offers direct private communication among the users, which enhances connectivity.
Success Factors:
Regional language support has reached a million rural and semi-urban Indians, which the international social media platform has not touched yet. Strategically, it has focused on culturally relevant content, and an easy-to-use feature has made the app grow exponentially, with over 400 million downloads. Google and Twitter made significant investments for this very reason.
Impact
ShareChat has enabled hundreds of thousands of users to communicate, interact, and express themselves in their mother tongues. The app’s success represents India’s colorful cultural fabric and growing demand for regional-first social media applications.
| Aspect | Details |
| Company Name | ShareChat |
| Founded | 2015 |
| Founders | Ankush Sachdeva, Farid Ahsan, Bhanu Pratap Singh |
| Headquarters | Bengaluru, India |
| Industry | Social Media |
| Total Funding Raised | Over $1.3 billion |
2. Moj
Source: The Indian Express
The parent company for ShareChat founded Moj in the year 2020 after the ban of TikTok in India, and the app grew to be amongst the top-notch short video platforms as they replicated the same success TikTok by taking a twist toward its successes that so well suited especially among Indian users
Key Features of Moj:
- Short Video Creation: The application allows interesting videos from 15 seconds to 60 seconds through several editing tools, effects, and music tracks.
- Multilingual Language Support: Moj enables content creation and consumption in several Indian languages, thereby catering to a more extensive section of audiences.
- Trending Challenges and Filters: New challenges and creative filters keep users engaged on the platform.
- Celebrity and Influencer Partnerships: Moj has collaborated with influencers and celebrities to make premium, engaging content available to users.
Success Factors:
Moj has bridged the gap that TikTok had left. It has gained over 100 million downloads in the very first year of its operation. Diverse talent marketing and innovative collaboration with Bollywood, regional, and social media personalities have also proven successful in boosting the reach of this app.
Impact:
Moj has been one of the more engaging platforms for emerging artists to show off their talent in comedy, dancing, singing, or painting. This app has democratized the digital space, allowing people to step out of a smaller town and reach at least a segment of appreciative people.
| Aspect | Details |
| Company Name | Moj (Developer- ShareChat) |
| Founded | 2020 |
| Founders | Ankush Sachdeva, Farid Ahsan, Bhanu Pratap Singh |
| Headquarters | Bengaluru, India |
| Industry | Social Media |
| Total Funding Raised | Over $1.2 billion (Funding raised by ShareChat from investors including Google, Temasek, and Others) |
3. Roposo
Source: Campaign India
Roposo is a short-video social media app described as “TV by the People,” where users can create, share, and watch videos in different genres. It combines entertainment with e-commerce, making it a unique platform in India’s digital space.
Key Features of Roposo:
- Channel-Based Content: Roposo specializes in themed channels, offering diverse categories like comedy, food, and fashion.
- Video-Shopping Integration: The app enables live commerce, allowing users to shop for products while watching content.
- Multilingual Support: It facilitates content creation in various Indian languages and, thus, access to the masses who are not proficient in English.
- Advanced Editing Tools: This facility allows the user to help him create high-grade professional video content.
Entertainment and commercial nuances have differentiated Roposo from other examples of short-video applications.
Impact:
Roposo is transforming the Indian social media landscape by letting users be entertained as they make better-informed choices while shopping. It has also birthed a new wave of creators who make revenues from video commerce.
| Aspect | Details |
| Company Name | Roposo |
| Founded | 2014 |
| Founders | Mayank Bhangadia, Avinash Saxena, Kaushal Shubhank |
| Headquarters | Gurgaon, Haryana, India |
| Industry | Social Media, Video Sharing |
| Reach | Over $100 Million users |
4. Chingari
Source: Google Images
The latest and probably one of the most significant Indian alternatives to TikTok is born right after TikTok’s ban in India. Chingari is a short video application that centralizes the user’s creativity as the center for its ideology of rewarding such creativity in extraordinary ways, making it distinct among all Indian social media platforms.
Important Features of Chingari
• Latest Video Editing Feature: Chingari is embedded with state-of-art video editing and effects that use augmented reality
• Cryptocurrency Reward: An intrinsic cryptocurrency, $GARI, rewards the creators.
• Language Inclusivity: Regional languages of content will allow Chingari to maintain mass appeal.
• Real-Time Content Translation: This will allow consumers to consume the content in more than one language and thus remove the language barrier to achieve pan-India reach.
Success Factors:
Chingari has recently added $GARI tokens for new content monetization. The Chingari app has received over 50 million downloads and is seeing growth in regional content creation.
Koo is the best amalgamation of blockchains and social media. An app that has allowed its developers to entertain thousands and millions of users from India.
| Aspect | Details |
| Company Name | Chingari |
| Founded | 2018 |
| Founders | Sumit Ghosh, Deepak Salvi, Biswatma Nayak, and Aditya Kothari |
| Headquarters | Bengaluru, Karnataka, India |
| Platform Type | Short video creation and sharing platform |
| User Base | Over $160 Million downloads (As of 2023) |
5. Koo
Source: The Indian Express
Koo is a microblogging application, and India’s creation was launched in 2020 to serve as an Indigenous alternative to international microblogging platforms such as Twitter. The cause is regional inclusivity, which allows consumers to express themselves in their mother tongues.
Key Features of Koo:
- Multilingual: It supports more than 20 Indian languages.
- Multiple Formats: Tweets can be typed, audited, or photographed.
- Trending Option: Koo allows for hashtags and trending topics, plus a feed just for the individual user.
Critical Success Factors
The app had enough traction to take off because some Indian politicians, celebrities, and public figures made it their endorsement. The app has more than 50 million users, pretty good for something that is Indian in focus.
Outcome:
Koo has done a superb job by allowing regional voices into the fray. The platform works for those with little exposure to English-dominated parts; hence, it is way more democratized in India for those accessing social media.
| Aspect | Details |
| Company Name | Koo |
| Founded | 2020 |
| Founders | Aprameya Radhakrishna and Mayank Bidawatka |
| Headquarters | Bengaluru, Karnataka, India |
| Funding and Investors | Raised over $50 million from investors, including Accel Partners and Tiger Global |
6. Trell
Source: CNBC TV 18
Trell is a curated e-commerce website allowing users to find lifestyle themes such as traveling, food, and beauty. In between content is this e-commerce solution.
Key Features of Trell:
Personal Interests Recommendations: Trell’s algorithm, which is AI-based, gives personal recommendations according to the user’s interest.
E-Commerce Integration: Users can buy a product directly from the app based on video recommendations.
Tutorials and Reviews: Trell features a humongous repository of reviews and how-to content, which promises to be engaging and informative.
Success Factors:
Trell’s niche model has attracted millions of users and giant brands while its valuation has soared along with its immense user base growth. It has more than 50 million active users.
Impact:
The app has not only revolutionized the way Indians shop but also given creators a place to monetize their lifestyle content.
| Aspect | Details |
| Company Name | Trell |
| Founded | 2017 |
| Founders | Pulkit Agarwal, Arun Lodhi, Prashant Sachan, and Bimal Kartheek |
| Headquarters | Bengaluru, India |
| Industry | Lifestyle Social Commerce |
| Primary Platform | Mobile Application (Android & iOS) |
7. Mitron
Source: Inc42
Mitron is an application for short videos created exclusively for India’s youth. It focuses on being simple and user-friendly to create and share interesting content.
Main Features:
- Clean User Interface: There is no clutter in the application.
- Trending Filters and Effects: Updates keep the platform fresh and relevant for users.
- Language Support: Supports multiple Indian languages for widespread access.
Success Factors:
The cultural connection of the name (as “Mitron” means friends) and the right time for Mitron gave it an initial boost. Just weeks after its launch, the app clocked more than 10 million downloads.
Idea Implication:
It is an exciting space for new-age creators and reflects the emerging need for Indian-centric short video platforms.
| Aspect | Details |
| Company Name | Mitron |
| Founded | 2020 |
| Founders | Shivank Agarwal and Anish Khandelwal |
| Headquarters | Bengaluru, India |
| Industry | Social Media & Technology |
| Total Funding Raised | Raised over $5M in funding from Nexus Venture Partners and Other investors. |
8. Public
Source: Patrika
It is a very local social network, connecting people to real-time updates on what is happening in their surroundings concerning local news, events, and activities.
What it’s fundamentally built on:
- Geo-Targeted News: The information they share relates to their region.
- Video-Based Updates: The public likes videos because they are easily consumable.
- Community Engagement: Users may engage with community leaders, journalists, and others.
Success Factors:
The fact that the focus on hyperlocal has resonated with an enormous number of million users in India has worked well to see over 100 million downloads. Partnering with news companies has additionally augmented its presence.
Impact:
The public has helped change how Indians consume news and stay connected to their communities, especially in semi-urban and rural locations.
| Aspect | Details |
| Company Name | Public |
| Founded | 2015 |
| Founders | Ankush Sachdeva, Farid Ahsan, Bhanu Pratap Singh |
| Headquarters | Bengaluru, India |
| Industry | Social Media |
| Total Funding Raised | Over $1.3 billion |
9. Lokal
Source: getlocalapp
Lokal is an application for locally-centric social media that provides news and classified jobs to smaller towns and villages in India.
Key features of Lokal:
• Localized content: It also provides current, up-to-date reports that are classified and relevant to the user’s locality.
• User-friendly interface: It is designed for user use, even for those possessing less technical adeptness.
• Classified & Employment: Jobs openings and classified adverts will only be available here.
Success drivers:
The regional first strategy from Lokal’s side has tapped into a vacuum on India’s social media profile. The app focusing on small-town vernacular content has primarily led to its take-off.
Impact:
One of the most essential services, which is crucial in Tier II and Tier III cities, through which users get updated with some necessary information and connectivity in these times.
| Aspect | Details |
| Company Name | ShareChat |
| Founded | 2015 |
| Founders | Ankush Sachdeva, Farid Ahsan, Bhanu Pratap Singh |
| Headquarters | Bengaluru, India |
| Industry | Social Media |
| Total Funding Raised | Over $1.3 billion |
Conclusion
An increasingly relevant shift that stands out with these Indian apps relates to this space in a way that is suited to their India-specific multi and multilingually diverse, rather than simply unilingual mass-market user base well. Global features aren’t compromised. This finally gave the microphone to a million people who couldn’t speak outside social media otherwise.
As these Indian-made platforms grow, they tell a more profound story of self-reliance and technological acumen. Tremendous adoption signals a bright future for the tech ecosystem and how these solutions craft global potential out of the subcontinent. The nine apps showcased here are homegrown platforms that thrive by meeting specific user needs and embracing emerging trends. Indian social media applications will go international because users become increasingly invested and are sure India will stay at the top of countries in the lead position of digital innovations and cultural activities.
