STICHIO, Social Network for Dares, Incubated into Facebook’s coveted FBStart Program; Receives $40000 Boost
6 years ago Saritha KeshamoniEarlier this week, a fast-growing Hyderabad based social network start-up, STICHIO, got selected get incubated in its coveted Facebook’s FBStart program. As a part of this program, STICHIO would receive benefits worth US$40000 and avail opportunity to work with Facebook’s product and technology team in the US. Founded by 3 IITians and a BITSian: Swagatika Das, Vivek Aalok, Ashish Chawla & Rajan Bhuyan, STICHIO is built around a unique premise where users express themselves through DARES or challenges.
Indians embracing digital is not new! But won’t you be surprised that today, more than 20 crore individuals are posting self-created “videos†of themselves on social media!? These people are also posting a lot more content on social media now than ever before. Still, selfies and smash videos seem to be the only possible ways to express digitally. But do you really have any other options? Is there a magic wand that can give you a heap of cool ways to express yourself?
STICHIO is exactly that magic wand! It is a first-of-its-kind social network that offers you a large assortment of readily available ideas in the form of DARES or challenges. These challenges can range from fun, talent, fitness and puzzles to totally outrageous ones.
Struggle for ideas is now over for good, as STICHIO keeps feeding you ideas to express yourself differently. To give you a glimpse, “write a funny song on karelaâ€ÂÂ, “show your talent by acting like a potato in a pressure cookerâ€ÂÂ, “perform 30 back-to-back pushups” and if you are still keen on selfies, you’d find over 5,000 unique selfie ideas. Now imagine being able to give these DARES to your friends. Ain’t that the coolest way ever to interact with your friends compared to just liking/commenting/messaging?
Launched in May, STICHIO’s Android app is designed exclusively for “desi†junta. The app has already made significant strides and along with the website, it has more than 100,000 unique people on it. Within this short span, STICHIO’s fresh and innovative ideas have been super popular and highly sought after by users. Watching these DARES is guaranteed to tempt you to jump in yourself!
STICHIO eyes at making DARES an everyday thing – so much so that you ask yourself, “DARE kiya kya aaj?â€ÂÂ
“STICHIO took its current shape as a result of constant feedback from users and keen insights into users’ minds. We conducted DARE events in 10 different colleges as a part of some of the largest college fests around the country. This allowed us to have a laser focus on the fundamentals behind which STICHIO at its current form stands. With the exciting journey we have had so far and constant love from our existing users, we are confident to take our user base to over 1 million in a year’s time.†said Swagatika Das, Founder and CEO.