SVF

Indian apps going desi

After a long day at work, 38-year-old Jainam Shukla would often look for ways to unwind — meet friends at the street corner, mindlessly browse social media or just stay bored at home! His wife Poonam and eight-year-old daughter Shikha would be busy watching television, but the shows did not interest him. As a security guard at a private company in Sinhasa, a small town in Indore district, he could not afford a Netflix or Hotstar subscription.

But over the past two months, Shukla has found a new entertainment — a gaming app called Hello Play. On it, he plays carrom and snakes and ladders, and the app interacts in his native language, Hindi. Needless to say, he is hooked.

There are millions like Shukla and, to cater to this crowd, many start-ups have come up with platforms that ‘speak’ in regional languages. There are video news platforms such as Awaaz India and Dailyhunt, information portal Vokal, social media platforms ShareChat and Khidki, and language-as-a-service (LaaS) firm Reverie. It doesn’t end there. The list is long and impressive …Click here to read the full story