'A Big Believer...': Zoho Founder's Arattai Messaging App Draws Praise From Edelweiss CEO Radhika Gupta

Radhika Gupta, CEO of Edelweiss Mutual Fund, has praised homegrown messaging app Arattai, calling it a made-in-India brand with global potential. Developed by Zoho Corporation, co-founded by Sridhar Vembu, Arattai has now climbed to the top spot in the social networking category on the App Store.

It was launched in January 2021, after WhatsApp announced changes to its privacy policy. However, its popularity has soared over the past few days after Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan endorsed it and urged people to back the 'swadeshi' app.

"Congrats Sridhar Vembu on the launch of Arattai," Radhika Gupta wrote on X.

"Happy to be a user and hope to see the network expand. A big believer in made in India brands - built for India and the world," she added.

Gupta spoke about her belief in Indian brands built for the world and shared that during a recent visit to Tokyo, she was impressed by the wide range of Japanese brands across cars, electronics, shoes, beauty, textiles, and chocolates.

"I am hoping we see the emergence of truly world class Indian brands across categories over the next 20 years! Built in India, trusted by the world," she said.

Arattai responded, "Thank you so much for your kind words and support. We're thrilled to have you on Arattai."

Arattai, which means "casual chat" in Tamil, works much like WhatsApp. It allows users to send text and voice messages, make voice and video calls, share photos, videos, and documents, use stories, groups, and channels, and access multi-device support on up to five devices.

Users can also import conversations from other platforms. While calls are end-to-end encrypted, text messages do not yet have the same level of protection.

On Monday, Vembu announced a 100-fold surge in traffic within three days, with daily new sign-ups jumping from 3,000 to 3.5 lakh.

"We are adding infrastructure on an emergency basis to handle another potential 100x peak surge. That is how exponentials work," Vembu said.

Last week, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan urged people to switch to Arattai. "Arattai instant messaging app developed by Zoho is free, easy-to-use, secure, safe and made in India. Guided by Hon'ble PM Shri Narendra Modi ji's call to adopt Swadeshi, I appeal to everyone to switch to India-made apps," he wrote on X.

The Arattai app is available to all users on Android and iOS and can be used by registering with a mobile number.