iWorld
Explurger App downloaded by 1.3 mn users; expands footprint to 50+ countries
MUMBAI: Explurger, an AI-powered intuitive social media app that lets users connect and share their moments with friends and family online said that it has crossed several milestones in a short span of time. The gamified social media app has expanded its footprint to over 50 countries, been downloaded by 1.3 million users, and seen a three-fold increase with over 900,000 new members being added in just three months itself.
Explurger App highlights:
• Downloaded over a million times from the App Store and Play Store
• Gained over 900,000 new users in three months
• Over 226 million people have been invited by registered users
• Users are on average spending 15-minutes on the app, which is at par with other popular social media apps
• Over 612,897 ‘Explurger-ins’ (location check-ins) have been posted by users so far via the app
• Users have cumulatively covered 63,179,971 miles, which is equivalent to circumnavigating the globe more than 2,537 times
• A total of 190,794 rewards have been accessed through the app
Till date, over 75 per cent of users who installed Explurger have synced their contacts with it, showing that they trust and enjoy this social media app and want their friends to join them as well. This has resulted in over 226 million invites being sent out by registered Explurger users to those who are not yet on this platform.
Explurger founder & CEO Jitin Bhatia said, “Our sign-up rate increased substantially post-launch in June. We are seeing higher traction in engagement, with an increased number of posts per day. We appreciate the enthusiasm of our user community, which has steadily risen and has crossed the one million download mark in less than three months. There is no doubt the numbers will grow exponentially as our users continue inviting more people to come and create thriving travel communities on our platform.”
Explurger also has an 80 per cent sign-up rate with an average engagement time of over 15 minutes, which is at par with other global social media apps. The app also claims to have a 90 per cent retention rate of users who have travelled over 1,000 miles and have AI-based travelogues in at least three cities.
“The bucket list has also turned out to be a popular feature in Explurger. If you see someone Explurge-in at an interesting place, you can add that place to your bucket list. This isn’t your run-of-the-mill bookmarking feature. The app will automatically remind you when you are in that area. So even if it happens after years and you have forgotten, Explurger will notify you that you had saved it in your list,” shared Explurger co-founder Sonu Sood.
Explurger has been selected by Google as one of the top 100 promising startups and top 30 mobile startups in India. An AI-powered social media app with a gamified user experience, it lets users connect and share their moments with friends and family online. The app goes beyond just sharing pictures and videos, it uses cutting-edge AI to automatically create travelogues of the memories users share on their profile. Whenever a user creates a post or ‘Explurge-in’, the app’s AI updates the travelogue, so every mile, city, country, pub, and club gets added.
Each user’s Explurger level goes up as in-app engagement increases, leading to more recognition on the platform. Users accrue rewards based on their activity, which in turn can be redeemed later. Currently, Explurger has more than 40 top brands on board as part of its rewards system and over 190,794 rewards have been accessed by users.
Explurger has been part of the Appscale Academy, a growth and development programme launched by MeitY and Google, where Indian start-ups are mentored on building high-quality apps for a global audience. The social media start-up was also recently recognised by Google in its Top 10 Innovative Apps in India list.
iWorld
Ankuur Rajesh Kapila named national sales head – India at ZEE5 & digital
Former sports-gamification executive to drive revenue strategy and digital monetisation across India
MUMBAI: A seasoned dealmaker across television, sport and digital, Kapila steps in as national sales head – India, charged with sharpening revenue strategy, widening market reach and deepening digital monetisation. The mandate is clear: convert scale into sales and attention into advertising.
The move bolsters the streaming ambitions of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited as competition intensifies in India’s crowded OTT market. The focus will be on stronger advertiser tie-ups, smarter packaging and monetisation that keeps pace with shifting viewer habits.
Kapila arrives from JioStar India Pvt. Ltd., where as vice president – sports gamification he helped scale Jeeto Dhan Dhana Dhan into one of the country’s largest live play-along ecosystems. During the Indian Premier League and major international tournaments, the platform engaged over 300 million fans, blending branded integrations with sponsorship-led revenues.
The appointment also marks a homecoming. Across a 14-year earlier stint at the company, Kapila handled brand solutions across regions and genres, led key account management for the GEC cluster and oversaw programming and content acquisition at Zee Studio. Few executives have worked as many sides of the revenue engine.
For ZEE5, the signal is unmistakable: monetisation is back in the spotlight. With advertisers chasing measurable impact and platforms chasing profitability, Kapila’s brief is to make growth pay. In the streaming wars, scale is vanity, revenue is sanity, and momentum is everything.
