Applications
Google Ventures funds app maker Echoecho
MUMBAI: Google Ventures and PROfounders Capital have given an initial funding of $750,000 to Los Angeles-based app maker, Echoecho.
The start-up builds apps, called Echoecho, for research In Motion‘s BlackBerrys, Apple‘s iPhone, Google‘s Android, Nokia‘s Ovi operating system and shortly Windows Phone 7. This enables users to share their current location with friends.
“We‘ve all been in a situation when we‘re near our friends but can‘t actually find them,” Echoecho‘s co-founder and chief executive Nick Bicanic said in a statement. “We wanted to create an app for that and we wanted one that people would actually use — that doesn‘t destroy the battery life of your phone, broadcast your location to everyone in the world or force you to join yet another social network.”
Bicanic said that such an app made a lot of sense because most people already carry around their “real social network” in the contact lists on their smartphones. “That‘s the social network that really matters,”he added.
Once in the app a user‘s location is plotted on a map, they can message anyone in their phone‘s address book and ask them where they are. After a contact responds, they are both plotted on the map, even if the person responding hasn‘t downloaded the Echoecho app. From there, users can continue to chat by text message, pick a meeting place on a map and share their location with other friends.
Besides its L.A. office, Echoecho also has an office in London where PROfounders Capital is based too.
Applications
With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
