Memes are a huge part of the culture of the internet, especially for Millennials and Gen Zs. Ever try making a meme on your phone though? Creating a meme on the fly and customizing it to the moment can be way harder than it looks. Not to mention earning anything for that creation!
From our first meeting, we loved how MemeChat aims to make creating, sharing, and viewing memes easy to do, whether in their app or anywhere else you chat online.
In 2020, as COVID-19 limited options for communication and entertainment, social media use increased. In India, social media audiences are booming as the population continues to connect online. Social media users stand at 330 million–the equivalent of the entire U.S. population–with Gen Z and Millennials representing the vast majority.
That’s where MemeChat comes in. MemeChat is tapping into the massive demand for meme content in India, helping people create, share, and even make money from memes.
Here’s a look at why we’re so excited they joined our virtual-first accelerator program.
The Nuts & Bolts
Problem: As content is now shared across platforms more easily, there are new opportunities for social networks to emerge. Social media users will go to the networks that provide a fun experience, as TikTok has proven. In India, memes are a huge part of what’s shared in chat groups, and now brands and advertisers are taking note because they can use them to communicate with their audiences in the language they’re already using – memes.
Solution: MemeChat makes generating memes and user content easier with simple yet powerful creator tools (like face swapping into popular memes!), as well as incentivizing users with payments for participating in branded content. The MemeChat app enables users to see a feed of funny content personalized to a user’s likes, find sponsored challenges to create memes, and search for hashtags that earn money for the user when they are shared.
MemeChat also developed a meme keyboard for iOS and Android to make it easier for users to create memes and share them when chatting across any social media platforms and messengers such as WhatsApp.
When 500 Met MemeChat
MemeChat sent us an accelerator application and we were immediately impressed by the young, hardworking team behind the scenes. Kyle Fernandes, the CEO of MemeChat, is a computer science engineer and has managed social pages with millions of followers. Some of his most popular accounts, such as @shitindianssay and The Sarcastic Indian have amassed hundreds of thousands of followers. Taaran Chanana, also a computer science engineer, is the managing director of MemeChat.
Why Now?
MemeChat has been growing in a huge way over the past few months, now well over 1 million downloads, and 600,000 monthly active users. Last year they were also featured in a competition for Made in India apps after TikTok was banned. MemeChat won the people’s choice selection and was featured as the second choice in the entertainment category.
Meme accounts are among the fastest-growing on social media, and their appeal is now expanding beyond just younger generations to audiences of all types. This form of easily digestible content also makes it increasingly attractive for native marketing.
Future of MemeChat
MemeChat is hard at work on more features to make meme creation a dream, including AI tools to make the perfect templates come together fast. They’re also working on a self-serve creation studio that allows brands to launch meme campaigns with ease. The MemeChat team is a natural fit for this type of social business, and we’re excited to see how they continue making products that are fun, engaging (and profitable) for their users.
You can learn more about MemeChat at https://memechat.app.
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