Wrapping up the year at InTouchApp: 2016 Highlights and 2017 Surprises!
In the startup ecosystem, there is a lot of emphasis on looking forward – to build products that people continue to love, to hire the right people, or to experiment with new technologies. Seldom are you advised to look back, to reflect, and to evaluate your success or failure in not just numbers, but how far you’ve come, and what you learnt along the way.
As Steve Jobs rightly said, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.”
That aside, we had quite an eventful year at InTouchApp, and as we gear up to say a final goodbye to 2016 – here are some highlights of the year gone by, and what you can expect from InTouchApp in 2017!
Team @ InTouchApp (December 2016)
1. We got funded!
For any startup, it is a dream to see funding come in, because it signifies that you have managed to find someone who believes in your product, and what it has to offer. Especially when you’re in early stages and the traction numbers are not well established: it’s the belief that counts! In April this year, we raised a seed fund from Mumbai based Blume Ventures, who have previously invested in the likes of Ola, Instamojo, Purplle, Unacademy, Exotel, and more. We thank the people at Blume for believing in us and our vision. Post-funding, we are free to focus 100 percent on taking InTouchApp to new heights, meeting customers expectations, and building a team that helps us do both, rather than having to worry about the money reflecting in our account – well, until our next round happens!
2. A million downloads, globally
At InTouchApp we believe we have what it takes to build a global consumer product – whether it is making contact management on your Android and iPhone devices simpler, or introducing you the ways in which you can get more out of your contact-list (wink,wink – stay tuned for 2017!). Today, we are managing over 1.5 billion contacts for users in over 200 countries. We were also happy to reach a million downloads on the Play Store just last week, with an average rating of 4.3.
3. No more logins
Bringing simplicity on mobile phone while maintaining security is always a challenge. One of the biggest pain points people face is remembering usernames and passwords – who wants to create one more? We enabled a completely password-less experience for our users on both mobile and web, by introducing a one-step OTP system.
4. Bringing mobile closer to your desktop
While the mobile phone has become our de-facto first device, the desktop (or laptop!) still remains the platform of choice when dealing with websites/tools that require bigger screens. For example, managing multiple groups on WhatsApp is far simpler on the desktop web, as opposed to the mobile app. To approach this particular problem, we launched our new Chrome extension, to bring your mobile phone closer to your desktop. With InTouchApp Chrome Extension, you can update your phone book, by saving new contacts directly from WhatsApp web, LinkedIn, or any other website with just a click – literally!
5. Contact Sharing
How often have you searched for a person online and wished you could connect with them easily? Or needed a contact from a close family or friend but had to wait for them to get? We introduced secure contact sharing in the Intouchapp, that allows you share all or subset of your contacts with anyone in your phone book and instantly find out your mutual connections with the person you are searching for!
Over to 2017
In the coming year, we will be bringing to you something that will make your life easy – allowing you to focus on things that matter the most to you. As we gear up for our next big release, here’s a sneak-peak of what we’ve been working on:
1. Contacts are the new apps
2016 was the year we were bombarded with advertisements asking us to download one app or the other! How many did you install? How many among those are you still using? Did you find it silly to go through the hassle of downloading an app, making space for it, registering by giving all your contact information one more time – just for that ‘one’ small thing you wanted to do? Well, you were not alone! We share your pain, and we believe that you should never need to install another app that solves ‘one’ of your problems! Wouldn’t it be nice to simply get to the app you wanted, without needing to actually install it? Sounds interesting? #StayInTouch.
2. Dialer, activity logs, and a new refreshing look
When we started in 2016, we wanted to offer you a smarter way to manage your phonebook, by allowing you to transfer, backup and sync your contact-list. In the coming year, you’re not only going to see InTouchApp in a completely new, refreshing look, but we are also looking forward to introduce InTouch as a dialer app, complete with smart, powerful and fast search, and an innovative activity log that will help you track everything MORE than you’d be using InTouchApp for in 2017!
3. InTouchApp for businesses and organizations
2016 made us realise the problems we solve for individuals are also faced by businesses and organisations to a great extent! The technology we have built fits in very well in solving the unique challenges faced by them in managing and communicating with their typically large set of customer databases. In the mobile first world, where email is a distant second communication media, these challenges are huge. If you run a business or organization, and want to know how InTouchApp can help you, just fill this form and we’d get in touch with you!
We’re excited to welcome 2017 – and we hope you are, too!
Until next time.
