Lokal, a hyperlocal social media platform focused around community updates, jobs, matrimonial, real estate, and classifieds, announced its entry into Gujarat. The application will provide hyper-local solutions in Gujarati and has already witnessed a significant number of active users across 33 districts of the state.
In the journey to make the internet meaningful for tier 2/3 India, this expansion marks an important milestone. Addressing the need for native language platforms, Lokal aims to garner 10 million users within a year. Since Gujarati is one of the most spoken languages, Lokal believes the state will contribute 20% of revenue in the coming quarter.
Founded in 2018, Lokal offers the highest district level density of users, given its focus on smaller geographical areas. It is on a mission to strengthen hyperlocal communities by enabling its users to share, interact, and transact in their native language. The application commenced its operations from Telangana and has been a key catalyst in empowering digital opportunities for tier 2 and tier 3 states of south India. As the state boasts of its increasing number of emerging businesses, Lokal identified Gujarat as their second entry point in the western part of the country.
Lokal is currently operational in 150+ districts across Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka Maharashtra and now Gujarat. Lokal is also planning to extend its footprint in the high potential international markets of Southeast Asia.
Commenting on this strategic move, Jani Pasha, Co-founder and CEO of Lokal, said, “Being one of the leaders for commerce in India, we recognize the role local culture, traditions and language has played in fueling society and the households of Gujarat. Our hyperlocal architecture is designed to amplify this very native strength. We intend to empower the people of Gujarat with digital opportunities and encourage them to use the internet meaningfully in Gujarati. We look forward to serving the local needs of this vibrant state and its people.”
Lokal has successfully garnered over 10 million downloads. The application played an instrumental role last year during multiple region-specific lockdowns. It bridged the communication gap with real-time pandemic updates, lockdown measures, and information on the availability of daily commodities. Since an increasing number of users from non-metro cities adopted a digital-first approach via Lokal App, its revenue has increased tenfold year on year and is growing at a 30% month-on-month basis.