The social networking site was all the rage before it was eclipsed by Facebook. Now, Orkut’s creator is taking a second shot at success. Former Google engineer Orkut Buyukkokten developed Orkut.com in 2002 as an independent project within the search engine giant. He took advantage of Google’s so-called 20% project that allowed workers to spend a fifth of their time on ideas not necessarily related to their job. Orkut.com was the most popular social networking websites in India and Brazil before Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook Inc. ruined its party. By 2010 it had lost the battle to Facebook in India and by 2012 in Brazil. On 30 June 2014, Google announced its decision to shut down Orkut.com. Buyukkokten has now launched Hello.com with a small group of former Google engineers. He calls the social network, operated by US-based Hello Network Inc., as the next generation of Orkut.com. He even takes a dig at Facebook; Hello is a social network built on loves, not likes, he says. In a blog post, Buyukkokten explains why he created Hello.com. “It saddens me to see that so often what we share online represents what we think the world wants to see in us rather than who we really are inside,” he says. “When we don’t feel safe expressing our true selves online, we isolate ourselves even more.”
Hello is a social network that connects users with people and content around similar interests and passions. It is an app-only platform available on iOS and Android. The app requires users to sign-up using an email address and create a profile. The users have to select up to five personas which include options such as actor, dancing, foodie, music and parent. The platform only allows image-based posts and each post has to be assigned to one of the personas. The platform is currently available for users in the UK, Australia, the US, Canada, France, New Zealand, Ireland and Brazil. It is slated to launch in Mexico, Germany and India this month. Compared with Buyukkokten’s first stint, Hello will find help from a number of factors such as rising usage of smartphones and the Internet. Good recall value of Orkut will help, too. Industry executives say Hello could generate initial interest both among users and investors, though ultimately its success will depend of whether it has anything unique to offer. Still, Buyukkokten will find the going much tougher in India than he did in his first stint. Already, a large number of startups are active in the interest-based social networking segment. These include Perchh, Brigge, Affimity, DIKY and Meet Up. Many of these startups have also attracted investors. Brigge, an activity-based social network, raised seed funding from The Chennai Angels in September 2015. San Francisco- and Bengaluru-based Affimity secured $1.2 million in angel funding in February. The same month, Unlaze raised funding from entrepreneur-turned-investor Sujal Shah and actor Dino Morea. These startups, however, don’t yet have any significant market share or a large user base. So Buyukkokten’s biggest challenge will come from his old nemesis—Facebook. Hello will enter a market which had 195.16 million Facebook users as of May 2016, according to online data provider Statista. The biggest threat could also be an opportunity, however. Prasanna Jaganathan, co-founder and CEO of Brigge, feels that all Facebook users won’t opt for a parallel social networking platform but a lot of users may be willing to connect with other users based on shared interests. “There is a considerable amount of fatigue when it comes to Facebook,” he says. “If Hello can solve the problem, it can be a good alternative to Facebook or to people who are trying to find like-minded people on Facebook and are unable to so.”
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Can Orkut founder’s new social network Hello recreate the magic?

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Bengaluru-based social networking start-up Affimity Inc  said on Wednesday it has raised $1.2 million in angel funding from a group of Silicon Valley angel Investors and founders. The company, which was founded in 2014 by Venkata Ramana, Amar J. Singh and Parveen Mittal, is looking to use the funds to expand services in India and other countries and hire larger teams. “Our immediate plan is to provide better content and community experience as we reach out to more people. We are continuously adding channels as well as customizing each of them to suit the requirement of that particular community,” said Mittal in a statement. Affimity allows users to focus on their passions and specific interests, filtering out irrelevant content and displaying only those posts that are relevant to the users’ interests. It currently has over 35 channels. The company aims to reach a target of 10 million global users by December 2016, with India contributing around 40% of it. Start-ups are providing alternate social media and community-based interactive solutions to users. In 2015, some such start-ups raised early stage funding. Online community for doctors Pune-based Docplexus Online Services Pvt. Ltd raised Rs4.6 crore from Unicorn Ventures and Austria-based ASP Consulting . Outdoor activity-based Brigge Technologies Pvt. Ltd raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding from The Chennai Angels (TCA) and online network for advertising executives Kulzy Media Pvt. Ltd raised over $1 million.

India: Social networking startup Affimity raises $1.2m from Silicon Valley angel investors

A desi social network for every passion
Shalina Pillai
ome entrepreneurs might even think it impossible to enter this space given the dominance of these giants. Well, think again.There are around 150 social media startups in India, as per startup analytics firm Tracxn, with quirky names like Kulzy, Docplexus, Brigge, Smartican, DIKY and Affimity. Most are niche sites, designed for those with specific interests. | TNN | Feb 6, 2016, 04.43 PM IST
Facebook is becoming crowded and we need other channels. MUMBAI: Indian startups are challenging social media giants with networking sites focused on specific interests, from medical education to travel, fashion and marketing
For many of us, 'social media' means Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. Some entrepreneurs might even think it impossible to enter this space given the dominance of these giants. Well, think again.There are around 150 social media startups in India, as per startup analytics firm Tracxn, with quirky names like Kulzy, Docplexus, Brigge, Smartican, DIKY and Affimity. Most are niche sites, designed for those with specific interests. Kulzy is for marketing folk, Docplexus for doctors. Others are for more varied audiences, but each has its own unique selling point. Affimity is a yearold startup with a team in Bengaluru and the Bay Area, and its social network consists of a number of channels. "We have channels like food, parents, working moms, fitness, jokes, fashion, among others. It is the place you go to, to be informed, bask in the community buzz, make and stay connected to friends who share that passion," says co-founder Parveen Mittal. Bengaluru resident Sangeeta Das has shifted her focus from Facebook to Affimity. The 42-year-old spends almost four months every year travelling across India, penning down her adventures on her blog and sharing them on Facebook. But she found the posts weren't generating many views from people interested in travel. "I began to lose interest in Facebook. I also used to get irrelevant content on my newsfeed," Das says. A month ago, she heard about Affimity from her food bloggers' group. Although Affimity's look and feel is similar to Facebook's, it has interest-based channels that one can follow. "I selected food and travel. Now, people who comment on my posts are those interested in travel. That has also greatly increased my blog views. The blog on my travel to the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat is the most popular," she says. Murali Satagopan, co-founder of Brigge, which launched its app two months ago, says their idea is to get people away from their smartphones and encourage more real-world interaction based on interests. Satagopan started Brigge (pronounced Bridge) with his brother-in-law Sampath Jagannathan and the latter's brother Prasanna Jagannathan. They saw the opportunity when they themselves faced difficulties in finding people with common interests to hang out with. Aditya Ahluwalia's DIKY (short for Do I Know You) uses the Facebook platform to create an interest-specific group.After users log in, they have to answer a series of questions that assesses their interests and personality traits. The users' friends are then asked to rate them on personality traits, thus creating a crowd sourced interest tag for users. DIKY then uses algorithms to match users with similar interest tags and communicate through chat. Ahluwalia, who co-founded DIKY with four others, calls it a marriage of Facebook, LinkedIn, and dating apps. DIKY, launched early last year, is still in beta mode and its Android app has seen close to 2,000 downloads. Delhi-based Smartican's co-founder Aastha Almast says traditional social media networks are based on pre-made relationships. "On Facebook, the content shared reaches only a particular group of people, but not to those who may actually be seeking that content," she says. The content on Smartican has been divided into images, videos, and texts and as the user keeps sharing a particular content, the machine keeps learning more about them. Smartican, which is currently migrating to a cloud service and expects to be available again in a few days, claims to have around five lakh registered users with 80,000 downloads for its mobile app. Some of these networks are successful owing to the specific nature of the interest. Anup Soan, an editor of a medical education publication and a member of Docplexus, says since this social media platform is restricted to those in the medical field, the member doctors are more open to asking questions. "Medical science is constantly evolving and the platform is good for people who want to stay in touch with changing medical practices. It's also good for doctors who want to expand their network," he says. Docplexus also offers weekly case studies, where doctors come together to solve cases. However, funding is still a challenge for these startups. Ranjeeth Rathod, an angel with the Chennai Angels network who has invested in Brigge, says India doesn't have a great ecosystem for interest-based social media currently. "But Facebook is becoming crowded and we need other channels. When Facebook first started, even they didn't have a revenue model. But advertisements came rushing in once they grew big," he says. RELATED
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A desi social network for every passion

When Facebook first started, even they didn't have a revenue model. But advertisements came rushing in once they grew big,“ he says. 01 February 2016, 8:30 AM IST
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Indian startups are challenging social media giants with networking sites focused on specific interests, from medical education to travel, fashion and marketing. For many of us, 'social media' means Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. Some entrepreneurs might even think it impossible to enter this space given the dominance of these giants. Well, think again. There are around 150 social media startups in India, as per startup analytics firm Tracxn, with quirky names like Kulzy, Docplexus, Brigge, Smartican, DIKY and Affimity. Most are niche sites, designed for those with specific interests. Kulzy is for marketing folk, Docplexus for doctors. Others are for more varied audiences, but each has its own unique selling point. Affimity is a year old startup with a team in Bengaluru and the Bay Area, and its social network consists of a number of channels. "We have channels like food, parents, working moms, fitness, jokes, fashion, among others. It is the place you go to, to be informed, bask in the community buzz, make and stay connected to friends who share that passion," says co-founder Parveen Mittal. Bengaluru resident Sangeeta Das has shifted her focus from Facebook to Affimity. The 42-year-old spends almost four months every year travelling across India, penning down her adventures on her blog and sharing them on Facebook.But she found the posts weren't generating many views from people interested in travel. "I began to lose interest in Facebook. I also used to get irrelevant content on my newsfeed," Das says. A month ago, she heard about Affimity from her food bloggers' group. Although Affimity's look and feel is similar to Facebook's, it has interest-based channels that one can follow. "I selected food and travel. Now, people who comment on my posts are those interested in travel. That has also greatly increased my blog views. The blog on my travel to the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat is the most popular," she says. Murali Satagopan, co-founder of Brigge, which launched its app two months ago, says their idea is to get people away from their smartphones and encourage more real-world interaction based on interests. Satagopan started Brigge (pronounced Bridge) with his brother-in-law Sampath Jagannathan and the latter's brother Prasanna Jagannathan. They saw the opportunity when they themselves faced difficulties in finding people with common interests to hang out with. Aditya Ahluwalia's DIKY (short for Do I Know You) uses the Facebook platform to create an interest-specific group. After users log in, they have to answer a series of questions that assesses their interests and personality traits. The users' friends are then asked to rate them on personality traits, thus creating a crowdsourced interest tag for users. DIKY then uses algorithms to match users with similar interest tags and communicate through chat. Ahluwalia, who co-founded DIKY with four others, calls it a marriage of Facebook, LinkedIn, and dating apps. DIKY, launched early last year, is still in beta mode and its Android app has seen close to 2,000 downloads. Delhi-based Smartican's co-founder Aastha Almast says traditional social media networks are based on pre-made relationships. "On Facebook, the content shared reaches only a particular group of people, but not to those who may actually be seeking that content," she says. The content on Smartican has been divided into images, videos, and texts and as the user keeps sharing a particular content, the machine keeps learning more about them. Smartican, which is currently migrating to a cloud service and expects to be available again in a few days, claims to have around five lakh registered users with 80,000 downloads for its mobile app. Some of these networks are successful owing to the specific nature of the interest. Anup Soan, an editor of a medical education publication and a member of Docplexus, says since this social media platform is restricted to those in the medical field, the member doctors are more open to asking questions. Medical science is constantly evolving and the platform is good for people who want to stay in touch with changing medical practices. It's also good for doctors who want to expand their network," he says. Docplexus also offers weekly case studies, where doctors come together to solve cases. However, funding is still a challenge for these startups. Ranjeeth Rathod, an angel with the Chennai Angels network who has invested in Brigge, says India doesn't have a great ecosystem for interest-based social media currently. "But Facebook is becoming crowded and we need other channels. When Facebook first started, even they didn't have a revenue model. But advertisements came rushing in once they grew big," he says.

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Bangalore-based Nreach Online Services Pvt Ltd, which runs online gifting platform  Giftxoxo , has acquired Actizone, an online portal to discover extracurricular activities, for an undisclosed amount. As part of the deal, Actizone co-founder Rajat Sharma will join Giftxoxo and spearhead its sales and development efforts in western India. Queries sent to Giftxoxo as well as Actizone on the deal went unanswered at the time of filing this report. “Actizone will help us cater to the large kids’ activities market in India. It’ll add to our existing portfolio of activities in different categories,” Manoj Agarwal, co-founder of Giftxoxo told  The Economic Times . Mumbai-based Actizone, run by PassionKart Services Pvt Ltd, caters to all age groups, ranging from toddlers to adults, who can discover activities grouped under 12 broad categories — dance zone, music and singing zone, art and crafts zone, IQ enhancement zone, toddler zone, health and wellness zone, sports zone, cooking zone, speech and drama zone, languages zone, adventure zone and photography zone on the portal. Giftxoxo was founded in April 2012 by Sumit Khandelwal, Manoj Agarwal, Abhishek Kumar and Kushal Agrawal. Khandelwal holds an MBA degree from TA Pai Management Institute, Manipal, and has worked with companies such as Hexaware, Wipro Consumer Care and Metro. Manoj Agarwal is an MBA graduate from IIM Kozhikode and had started Tawa, a restaurant in Bangalore, before joining Giftxoxo. Kumar, who also co-founded e-commerce portal Evening Flavors, is an IIT Bombay alumnus while Kushal Agarwal studied at Pune’s Vishwakarma Institute of Technology. In 2013, Giftxoxo had  raised  an undisclosed amount in angel funding from Mumbai-based Kshatriya Ventures. In October last year, Giftxoxo  acqui-hired  Yipeedo, a recommendation engine that assists city dwellers to discover and book leisure activities. Activity-based startups seem to be capturing investor attention. Brigge, an activity-based social network that also allows users to discover people with similar interests, had recently raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding from The Chennai Angels.

Online gifting portal Giftxoxo acquires Actizone

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Brigge Technologies focuses on developing a social network platform within the technology sector. The company's platform is designed to connect individuals seeking leisure activities with others who share similar interests.  It is based in India.

Date	9/29/2015
Round	Angel
Amount
Investors	Chennai Angels
Valuation	$XXM
Revenue	0 FY undefined
Sources	1

First funding	9/29/2015
Last Funding	9/29/2015
Investor	Chennai Angels
Rounds	1 Angel
Board Seats
Type	Angel Investor (Group)
Location	India

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