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Pinoy app 'Kumu' grows by tapping Millennial and GenZ need for 'authenticity'

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Cathy Yang, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/business/11/07/20191107-kumu-app.jpg?ext=.jpg"/></figure></div><p>MANILA - Social app Kumu has grown to 2 million users in less than 2 years by tapping the &quot;need for authenticity&quot; of the younger generation of Filipinos, the company&#x27;s founder said on Thursday. </p><p>Kumu, which was launched in February last year, is a Filipino-centric social app that lets users host and watch livestreams, do virtual hangouts, as well as join interactive quizzes and social games. </p><p>The app, which takes its name from the Pinoy greeting &#x27;kumusta?&#x27; also lets livestreamers earn as subscribers send them virtual coins which can then be converted to real money. </p><p>Kumu has become very popular among Filipino millennials and the GenZ demographic since its launch last year, reaching 1.5 million registered users in October and 2 million this month. </p><p>Roland Ros, Kumu&#x27;s Filipino-American founder and CEO, said they achieved this by providing a platform where younger people can &quot;just be themselves.&quot;</p><p>&quot;For us, as we look at the core behaviors of what creates Kumu as an addicting app, is adding the word authentic to community--authentic community,&quot; Ros said in an interview with ANC&#x27;s The Boss. </p><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/B4jyZ8cHtu2/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="12" style="background:#FFF;border:0;border-radius:3px;box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);margin:1px;max-width:540px;min-width:326px;padding:0;width:calc(100% - 2px)"><div style="padding:16px"><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;align-items:center"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;flex-grow:0;height:40px;margin-right:14px;width:40px"> </div><div 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</div></div><div style="margin-left:auto"><div style="width:0px;border-top:8px solid #F4F4F4;border-right:8px solid transparent;transform:translateY(16px)"> </div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;flex-grow:0;height:12px;width:16px;transform:translateY(-4px)"> </div><div style="width:0;height:0;border-top:8px solid #F4F4F4;border-left:8px solid transparent;transform:translateY(-4px) translateX(8px)"> </div></div></div><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:column;flex-grow:1;justify-content:center;margin-bottom:24px"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;margin-bottom:6px;width:224px"> </div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;width:144px"> </div></div><p style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:17px;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:8px;overflow:hidden;padding:8px 0 7px;text-align:center;text-overflow:ellipsis;white-space:nowrap"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B4jyZ8cHtu2/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:17px;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">A post shared by Cathy Yang (@cathyyapyang)</a> on <time dateTime="2019-11-07T09:28:11+00:00" style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:17px">Nov 7, 2019 at 1:28am PST</time></p></div></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://www.instagram.com/embed.js" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>He said that a lot of younger social media users are tired of pretending to be something or someone else. </p><p>&quot;A lot of times you can see these fancy hashtags and pretend your life is perfect,&quot; Ros said. </p><p>This has created a lot of anxiety and stress among the younger generation of social media users, Ros said. </p><p>A livestream that is unedited and not prerecorded meanwhile feels more authentic, and users feel more connected to the person doing the livestream, Ros said. </p><p>&quot;Especially for the younger audience on the GenZ side, you know there is this kind of need for authenticity and for realness that you can&#x27;t get from a prerecorded setting.&quot; </p><p>He said that in a survey of Kumu users, many said that what they enjoyed most about the app was that it allowed them to &quot;de-stress.&quot;</p><p>One example of a livestream that became a surprise hit on the platform was the video of someone painting Game of Thrones miniatures.</p><p>Many commented simply watching the process of painting the miniatures was relaxing and soothing for them. </p><p>Kumu, whose investors include ABS-CBN and lead investor Summit Media, has raised $1.2 million in seed funding and is now moving to Series A funding to grow the company beyond the Philippines, including Indonesia and Thailand. </p><p>The company is also launching &quot;content creation schools&quot; in Metro Manila to teach people to do more livestreams for the platform. </p><p>News.abs-cbn.com is the official news website of ABS-CBN Corp.</p>

<p>Kumu has become very popular among Filipino millennials and the GenZ demographic since its launch last year, reaching 1.5 million registered users in October and 2 million this month. </p>

Kumu has become very popular among Filipino millennials and the GenZ demographic since its launch last year, reaching 1.5 million registered users in October and 2 million this month.

Pinoy app 'Kumu' grows by tapping Millennial and GenZ need for 'authenticity'

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Pinoy app 'Kumu' grows by tapping Millennial and GenZ need for 'authenticity'

Cathy Yang,

ABS-CBN News

Published November 07, 2019 05:37 PM PHT

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