Applications
Rebounce gains 20,000 users in a month as Indians embrace second chances
NATIONAL: Rebounce, India’s first matchmaking and matrimony app built exclusively for divorced, separated and widowed individuals, has crossed 20,000 users within just over a month of its launch, signalling a sharp shift in how Indians view love, remarriage and life after separation.
Launched in September 2025, the platform is positioning itself against casual dating culture, with user behaviour showing strong intent for serious relationships. More than 53 per cent of men and 64.6 per cent of women on the app are actively seeking marriage rather than short-term connections, underlining a move from swipes to commitment.
Rebounce founder and CEO Ravi Mittal said the early traction reflects a cultural reset. He noted that divorce and loss are increasingly seen not as endings but as transitions towards a fuller life, with more Indians choosing to give love a second chance.
The typical Rebounce user is in their early 30s, emotionally mature and focused on long-term stability. On average, women on the platform are around 35 years old, while men are about 31, challenging the assumption that remarriage is largely a later-life decision driven by companionship rather than romance. Data also shows that eight in ten users are explicitly seeking love, not marriages of convenience.
Single parents are emerging as one of the most serious user groups on the platform. About 55 per cent of single fathers and 68 per cent of single mothers are pursuing marriage-led relationships, reinforcing Rebounce’s emphasis on emotionally responsible and family-aware matchmaking.
Perhaps the most striking shift is in attitudes towards stigma. Users appear far less concerned with a potential partner’s marital history, prioritising compatibility, shared values and lifestyle alignment instead. More than 57 per cent of men cite travel compatibility as an important factor, while fewer than 9 per cent consider marital history critical in choosing a match.
While the app’s user base continues to grow steadily, Rebounce says the real achievement lies in the changing mindset. Divorce is no longer viewed as a full stop, but as a pause before a new beginning. Interestingly, 22.2 per cent of men expressed interest in exclusive long-term relationships, compared with 16.1 per cent of women, pointing to evolving relationship dynamics shaped by experience and clarity.
Applications
Inshorts Group chief Deepit Purkayastha joins IAB video council for Southeast Asia and India
The co-founder and chief executive of the short-form content platform has been inducted into the IAB SEA+India Video Council, giving India a stronger voice in shaping digital video frameworks
NOIDA: India has long been the world’s most chaotic, multilingual and mobile-first digital market. Now, one of its most prominent short-video executives is getting a seat at the table where the rules are written.
Deepit Purkayastha, co-founder and chief executive of Inshorts Group, has been selected as a member of the IAB SEA+India Video Council for 2026. Run by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the council brings together senior leaders from Southeast Asia and India to shape standards, best practices and measurement frameworks for the fast-evolving video and digital advertising ecosystem.
The timing is pointed. According to the IAMAI-Kantar Internet in India Report 2025, over 588 million Indians are now consuming short-video content, with growth increasingly driven by rural and non-metro audiences. India’s active internet user base has crossed 950 million, with 57 per cent of users now coming from rural markets. Yet the frameworks that govern how video consumption is measured and monetised were largely designed for single-language, Western markets and have struggled to keep pace with the scale, diversity and complexity of India’s digital landscape.
Purkayastha is no stranger to these debates. He already serves on the AI Council at Marketing and Media Alliance India and as co-chair of the Digital Entertainment Committee at the Internet and Mobile Association of India. His induction into the IAB SEA+India Video Council extends that influence into the global video standards arena.
Inshorts Group sits squarely at the intersection of these forces. Its flagship product, Inshorts, India’s highest-rated short news app, reaches 12 million active users with 60-word news summaries. Its sister platform, Public App, reaches 80 million monthly active users across more than 700 districts and 12 languages, serving communities that most global platforms barely register.
Purkayastha said the opportunity was about building something more representative. “India today sits at the centre of the global video ecosystem, but the frameworks that define how value is created and measured have not always kept pace with the realities of our market,” he said. “Being part of the IAB SEA+India Video Council is an opportunity to contribute to a more representative and future-ready approach, one that accounts for diversity in language, context, and user intent.”
As a council member, Purkayastha will contribute to shaping regional standards across video advertising, measurement and platform governance, with a focus on frameworks that are native to India’s multilingual, mobile-first ecosystem rather than imported from global benchmarks designed elsewhere.
For years, India has been content to play by rules written for other markets. Purkayastha’s induction is a signal that it is done waiting to be consulted and ready to start writing them.
