I’m sure that you must be in various groups, be it digitally or online.

Humans have always thrived in communities. It gives us a sense of belonging – be it your family or your nationality.

In the digital age, digital communities have been established that connect people globally.

Reddit is an app that allows people to engage in specific communities. It is especially popular in the west and among many English-speaking people in India.

But Hindi is the most spoken language in India with 528 million native speakers in the northern regions as of 2024.

To cater to this audience, Kutumb (Sanskrit for family) was launched in 2020.

This community-centric app has filled a crucial gap for Bharat users for who may not be fluent in English but still need a platform for their communities.

Kutumb stands out by providing a secure, private, thread-based space where users can connect with like-minded individuals, participate in discussions, and stay updated on community-specific news.

And this is not based on guess-work.

According to Biswapriya Bhattacharjee from Kantar, “By 2025, there will be more internet users in rural India than in urban India.” (Source)

Moreover, since last year, 31% of India’s rural population have been active internet users.

Kutumb is strategically positioned to serve this growing market, offering a platform that resonates with the cultural and linguistic diversity of its users.

Let’s look at their start-up journey!

Initial Growth Strategies:

Kutumb was co-founded by Abhishek Kejriwal, Mohit Sharma, Naveen Dewangan, and Vipul Allawadhi.

The four of them worked at Pratilipi before working on Kutumb.

Being in a company that serves the vernacular audience digitally, they had the relevant industry background and experience needed to start off.

In the Indian market, the majority of social media platforms are dominated by English, which alienates a large portion of the population who are more comfortable communicating in their native languages.

Many local communities, be it religious groups, professional circles, or cultural associations, found it challenging to connect and collaborate.

While researching for ways to serve the vernacular audience, the team at Kutumb ran ads and came across two major insights:

• There are many associations and organizations in the country with no proper digital platform that caters to their specific needs.

• Not only was the number of notifications from apps like WhatsApp a problem, but payment procedures like funding were also a hassle.

With over 30% of the responses asking for a way to manage their communities better, they created the first version of the app based on these two insights.

Today, Kutumb hosts various types of communities, including the Panchayat Ward Sachiv Sang Bihar, Rajasthan Adiwasi Meena Sewa Sangh, and Akhil Bhartiya Banjara Samaj.

You can view their testimonials here.

After the product was launched, two communities with over 10,000 members were using the app.

When they had used the app for some time, founders at Kutumb got feedback from them to gauge if the model would work.

They knew they had product-market fit when users responded positively to keep the app going, and were willing to pay for it.

One of the admins shared that the amount they had struggled to collect over 12 years was accumulated in just a few months after adopting Kutumb, thanks to its efficient and user-friendly features.

Key Features and Benefits:

Within 2 years of the launch, the app grew to 20,000 communities.

These are across a few major categories, including, Religious Organisations, Samajik Associations, Political Associations, Housing Societies, Gram Panchayats, and college unions.

Employee Associations are their biggest driver.

The app interface works in 8 languages, including Hindi, English, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, Telugu, Kannada, and Punjabi.

Some key features include:

1. Community-Centric Design:

   Kutumb allows users to join various communities based on their interests, languages, and cultural backgrounds.

2. Localized Content:

   The app supports multiple Indian languages, enabling users to communicate and consume content in their preferred language, fostering inclusivity and better engagement.

3. Secure and Private:
   Kutumb offers secure community forums where members can interact without concerns about data privacy.

4. Custom Membership Features:

   Communities can manage memberships, issue digital ID cards, and even collect donations securely through the app.

   These features help in organizing and streamlining community activities.

5. Interactive Discussions:

   Users can start and participate in discussions on various topics relevant to their community, providing a space for shared knowledge and support.

As of March 2024, they have 5 Cr+ downloads, 10 million active users monthly, and 3 million+ active users daily.

This shows the active demand in an untapped market that Kutumb was able to capture by providing specific solutions.

Funding Rounds:

Kutumb's financial backing began with its seed funding round.

In late 2020, the platform raised $15.5 million (INR 13 crore) led by Sequoia Capital India through its Surge program, alongside Whiteboard Capital, along with other angel investors.

Sequia’s Surge program gained a 19.61% stake in the company in this round.

This initial injection of funds was crucial for laying down the foundation of Kutumb, aiding in early-stage development and scaling efforts.

The significant momentum for Kutumb was marked by its Series A funding round in early 2021.

The company successfully raised $26 million (INR 192 crore), a round led prominently by Tiger Global, which invested $18.5 million.

Additional contributions came from Quiet Capital ($3 million), Rocketship VC, AL Trust, Nirman Investments, and others.

User Growth Strategies:

User Growth Strategies:

Kutumb's success largely hinges on its ability to foster a sense of community among its users.

By focusing on hyper-local communities and offering tools that enhance group interactions, Kutumb ensures high engagement levels.

This not only attracts users but also encourages them to remain active on the platform.

The MVP of the app had limited featured but it allowed admins to manage their communities and users could post and consume content.

Kutumb added features like a team page for admins based on user feedback.

Soon, Kutumb adopted the one-to-many approach so that users could join multiple communities instead of a single one.

The app's growth has been significantly driven by word-of-mouth recommendations and the viral nature of its community features.

Users are incentivized to invite friends and family to join their communities, which creates a natural growth loop.

This organic reach means very low CAC for the company.

But here they faced a problem when an admin complained that from their offline community of 12,000, only 1,200 were using Kutumb.

So, they employed two major strategies that helped to grow the number of users on the app:

1. Digital ID Card:
   Kutumb made a groundbreaking move when they introduced digital i-cards.
   It helped to streamline the identification process and establish a concrete sense of belonging with the community.
   This encouraged more members to move from offline to online space.

2. Reputation Point:
   This was a referral system where with increasing referrals, the members could earn reputation points.
   The person with the highest number of referrals could earn a certificate from the association’s president.

Unexpectedly, a chain reaction happened - among the new members joining in, some already had communities which they wanted to onboard on Kutumb.

And some members from these new communities also had similar requirements - creating a loop of new communities and users.

One strategy that didn’t work for Kutumb was admin-to-admin referrals. But because of the user-to-user loops, the base kept growing.

The initial focus was solely on refining the app, and major efforts and investments were directed towards the same.

Marketing wasn’t a priority until the user base grew to 5,00,000 daily active users.

And so they could acquire the users. But that’s only half the battle.

For long-term success, user retention is crucial.

This was driven by short feedback loops between the marketing and retention teams to integrate efforts with data and insights of what’s working.

Their retention rate for day 30 is in the range of 17-20%.

This would flatline at 10-11% around day 90.

Revenue Model:

Till FY 2022, Kutumb was at pre-revenue stage.

They realized that admins of the communities could charge a particular amount for members to have access.

So, Kutumb charged a commission fee for the subscription payments in the app.

In March 2022, this led to a revenue of INR 7.8K.

This could be because of the price sensitivity of Bharat users, and subsequently, low subscription and even lower commission rates.

Kutumb leverages various forms of in-app advertising such as banner ads, interstitial ads, and native ads.

They also run targeted ads on the app to highly targeted users in niche groups.

According to Abhishek Kejriwal, “We charge a flat commission on all the subscription payments flowing through the platform.” (Source)

Looking Ahead:

Kutumb continues to evolve by expanding its feature set and improving user engagement.

The app has recently introduced an iOS version, catering to a broader audience. This will help them penetrate deeper into the market and provide a seamless experience across different platforms.

Additionally, Kutumb has incorporated live audio streaming capabilities, leveraging technology from 100ms to ensure high-quality audio and reliability.

This feature allows community leaders to host live discussions and events, further enhancing the platform's engagement and usability.

To conclude, Kutumb’s journey from inception to becoming a key player in the Indian social networking space highlights the importance of understanding and catering to local needs.

With its robust platform and visionary leadership, Kutumb is well on its way to redefining how communities connect and interact online.