Lokal has more than 50 lakhs non-English speaking users from across the states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana & Tamil Nadu The digital advertising industry across India has a market size of around Rs.17, 000 crores, according to a recent report by Dentsu Aegis Network. Bangalore based Lokal App, a hyperlocal news interaction and content app, has made its mark in the industry by offering people everything from local news, jobs, local information like contact details of doctors, police stations, weather, vegetable prices, and classifieds to matrimony and real estate business opportunities. Today, the app has more than 50 lakhs vernacular speaking, non-metro registered users from across the three states, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu.

The smartphone companies basically use their sales numbers to boast about their growth but they don’t have the infrastructure to service their consumers. Lokal App was the outcome of this simple realization. It started as a hyperlocal news outlet in Pasha’s hometown at Kodad, and has grown to cover more than 45 districts in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana & Tamil Nadu in just two years. In fact, the app continues to onboard lakhs of people every month. “Our Lokal app is everything a modern news app should be. It presents news elegantly across formats, and designed in a way to keep younger consumers engaged. What hasn’t changed, of course, is the high-quality journalism it draws on, and our belief that the reader is at the centre of everything we do. In fact, the way the app works, it will only increase the reader’s bond with us,” says Jani Pasha, CEO, Lokal App. What started as a whatsApp group initially, today is a popular app that provides people in far off village and constituencies a one-stop platform to have their say, to make unknown voices heard, to get a job, to list their ads, and to find a suitable match, among other services.