TikTok sets down, rival app rises up to shine
By MYBRANDBOOK
Last month, when India banned 59 Chinese apps, including global sensation TikTok, the short-video platform stopped working for its 200 million local users. Within hours, an avalanche of new sign-ups pushed the servers of one of its Bangalore-based rivals, Roposo, to breaking point.
Two weeks on, Roposo, which also offers short videos, says it is peaking at 500,000 new users an hour and expects to have 100 million by month's end. That's almost double the 55 million it had before the ban, and puts Roposo among a profusion of Indian startups to benefit from TikTok's troubles in the country.
The ban from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government covered other big Chinese names such as Alibaba Group Holding's UC Web mobile browser and Tencent Holdings' WeChat messaging app, and came amid a border face-off between India and China.
While India cited privacy and security concerns, the restrictions are poised to dramatically alter the competitive landscape in the nation's digital economy.
"It was a rocket ship instant for the country's app startups," said Naveen Tewari, founder of the startup that owns Roposo, munching nuts against the backdrop of the red-brick-walled study in his Bangalore home on a recent Zoom call. "We have a viable chance to become the world's fourth technology hub after the US, China and Russia."
His decade-old digital advertising startup InMobi, Roposo's parent, has in earlier years drawn investments from global names such as SoftBank Group. Last year, PayPal co-founder and billionaire investor Peter Thiel backed its unit, Glance, which acquired Roposo in November.
Roposo features videos showcasing moves set to Bollywood music, humour minus the ribaldry, pranks, fashion and even jokes about the coronavirus pandemic
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