Soul APP

Name

Soul APP

Legal name

上海任意门科技有限公司

Website

https://soulapp.cn

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Soul APP is an AI-powered, avatar-based social platform developed by Shanghai Renyimen Technology, serving over 11 million daily active Gen Z users in China with proprietary Soul X multimodal large language models, virtual gifting, and offline experiential venues.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social Networking Platform

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Conversational AI Platforms (chat/voice bots, orchestration) (HDAAAFAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Emotion, Sentiment & Paralinguistic Intelligence (HDAAAFAI), AI Application Enablement Platforms (Copilot/Agent Frameworks, SDKs) (HDAEANAJ)

Keywords

• AI social networking
• Avatar-based social platform
• Interest graph matching
• Multimodal AI companion
• Virtual social community

Headquarters

HQ city

Shanghai

HQ country

China

HQ region

Asia

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. AI-powered Emotional Value Services: Over 90% of revenue generated from AI-powered emotional value services targeting Gen Z users. These services include virtual gifts, premium features, and AI companion interactions that provide emotional support and value to users.
2. Advertising: Soul began monetizing through advertising services in 2020. Ad offerings leverage the platform's large Gen Z user base and AI-driven interest graph targeting capabilities.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Soul APP operates an AI-powered immersive social platform where users interact via customizable 3D avatars without revealing real names, appearance, or social labels. The platform uses a proprietary multimodal large language model (Soul X) combined with an interest graph and recommendation system to match users based on personality, lifestyle, and interests, enabling AI-boosted conversations, group chat parties, AI companion interactions, and emotional value services. The company also open-sources a family of generative AI models (SoulX-Podcast, SoulX-FlashTalk, SoulX-Singer, SoulX-FlashHead) and has expanded into offline themed social spaces.

Product overview

Soul APP operates as an AI-powered immersive social platform with a modular architecture centered on its core Soul App product and the proprietary Soul X multimodal AI model. The platform's product portfolio includes main features (Avatar, Square, Party Rooms, Music Rooms) alongside AI-augmented tools (AI Boosters, Soul Test, Spiritual Matching), the open-source SoulX model family (SoulX-Podcast, SoulX-FlashTalk, SoulX-Singer, SoulX-FlashHead), and supporting infrastructure (Nawa Engine). The platform connects over 11 million daily active users, primarily Gen Z, through interest-based matching without requiring real identity disclosure. Revenue is generated primarily through AI-powered emotional value services (90%+), with the company operating profitably since 2023. The company also maintains Just So Soul Institute for research and trend analysis.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Soul App Mobile Application China's leading AI-powered immersive social platform where users interact via customizable 3D avatars without revealing real names, appearance, or social labels. Based on interest graphs and AI algorithms, it creates an emotional oasis connecting users with compatible souls based on personality and interests. Available on iOS, Android, and HarmonyOS in China.
• Soul X Model Proprietary 'first emotional value' multimodal large language model with long-term memory, context and environment awareness. Recognizes, understands, and dynamically responds to user emotions, providing creative inspiration and interactive support for AI companions and social matching on the Soul platform.
• SoulX-Podcast Open-source voice podcast generation model generating over 60 minutes of natural conversation with consistent tone and rhythm, replicating non-verbal sounds like laughter and sighs. Supports zero-shot cross-dialect voice cloning for developer and commercial applications.
• SoulX-FlashTalk Open-source real-time digital human generation model with 14B parameters enabling live avatar video interactions with natural conversational abilities for commercial use.
• SoulX-FlashHead Open-source real-time digital human generation model with 1.3B parameters for compact, efficient avatar video generation, supporting commercial deployments.
• SoulX-Singer Open-source song synthesis model that generates singing voices with human-like naturalness and expressiveness for voice generation applications.
• Full-Duplex Voice LLM End-to-end full-duplex voice large language model enabling natural, real-time group voice interactions with AI hosts for immersive emotional and social engagement within the Soul platform.

Quantifiable outcome

• 78.7%+ of 11 million daily active users are Gen Z users
• +3 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability11 records

Feature12 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• DASH LANDcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2026Soul App partnered with DASH LAND, a well-known bar brand, to open the co-branded themed bar 'My Soul Bar'. The first batch of 7 themed venues opened simultaneously in Shanghai, Nanjing, Wuhan, and Kunming. This partnership is a core component of Soul App's strategic expansion from online 'soul social' to offline 'emotional reality' spaces, planned to reach at least 30 offline social spaces nationwide by 2026. The bars are themed around '7 emotional exits' (7个情绪出口) aligned with Soul's 'de-labeling' product philosophy targeting Gen Z.
• 上海市精神卫生中心 (Shanghai Mental Health Center / 宛平南路600号)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2024Soul App partnered with the Shanghai Mental Health Center (宛平南路600号) for the '心理医诗' (Mental Health Poetry) initiative. The collaboration includes joint online emotional healing parties on the platform, offline healing poetry exhibitions featuring poet Yu Xiuhua, professional mental health guidance for Soul's customer service team, and the '心理医诗3.0' upgrade in 2025 creating a 'healing poetry & music exhibition' at Shanghai Expo Cultural Park. The partnership aims to address the 'middle ground' of social mental health services for young people.
• 壹点灵 (Yidianling / One Point Soul)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Soul partnered with Yidianling, a professional psychological service platform, to launch the '情绪松绑计划' (Emotional Unbinding Plan). The initiative focused on psychological consultation themes including 'emotional self-check', 'intimate relationships', and 'workplace stress', offering free psychological counseling services to platform users.
• 上海领养日 (Shanghai Adoption Day)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Soul partnered with Shanghai Adoption Day to launch a '公益搭子' (Public Welfare Partner) campaign to raise awareness and promote adoption of shelter animals, caring for 'furry children'.
• 中国文物交流中心 (China Cultural Heritage Exchange Center) & 河南博物院 (Henan Museum)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Soul partnered with the China Cultural Heritage Exchange Center and Henan Museum for the 'Soul Museum Meta Project — 国风雅·遇知音' (Soul Museum Meta Plan — Chinese Elegance Meets Soulmate) activity. The collaboration launched ancient music-themed group chat events, a nationwide Chinese-style group chat carnival, and a 'Starlight Concert' to engage Gen Z users with traditional Chinese culture through creative platform features.
• 中国青年报 (China Youth Daily)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Soul partnered with China Youth Daily to co-host the '有识青年' (Knowledgeable Youth) university knowledge competition, encouraging students to focus on topics including technology, history, culture, disaster prevention, epidemic prevention, and environmental protection, with scholarship rewards for finalists.
• 护苗联盟 (Youth Protection Alliance)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Soul joined the '护苗联盟' (Youth Protection Alliance) and '绿书签行动' (Green Bookmark Campaign) initiated by Shanghai's '扫黄打非'暨文化市场管理办公室 (Swatting Piracy and Illegal Publications Office). As one of the first alliance members, Soul committed to protecting the healthy growth of minors and maintaining a healthy cultural environment.
• 上海网信办 (Shanghai Cyberspace Affairs Office)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Soul partnered with the Shanghai Cyberspace Affairs Office to launch the '素未谋面的善意' (Kindness from Strangers) campaign, a relay of 100 real user stories of goodwill, part of the 2022 'Be a Good Chinese Netizen, Shanghai Netizens in Action' series.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Tencent (WeChat/QQ): Tencent operates WeChat and QQ, China's dominant social platforms with over a billion users. Tencent is both Soul's largest shareholder (49.9%) and a partial competitor, making it directly comparable as a social networking incumbent with overlapping AI and social features.
• TikTok (Douyin): ByteDance's TikTok and Douyin are AI-driven social platforms serving Gen Z with short-form video, interest-based recommendations, and AI-powered content discovery. Direct competitor in the Chinese Gen Z social market with vastly larger scale.

Direct peers

• Xiaohongshu (RED): Xiaohongshu is a leading Chinese social platform targeting Gen Z and young women with interest-based content discovery and community features. Similar user demographics and AI-driven recommendation approach make it a direct peer in the Chinese social networking space.
• Bilibili: Bilibili is a major Chinese video and social platform focused on Gen Z users with interest-based communities, AI-enhanced recommendations, and user-generated content. Direct competitor for Gen Z attention and engagement in China.
• ZEPETO: ZEPETO is a South Korean avatar-based social platform where users interact via virtual identities without revealing real attributes. Closely comparable to Soul's avatar-based anonymous social model, though primarily serving global markets.
• IMVU: IMVU is an avatar-based social platform with 3D virtual identities and interest-driven connections. Directly comparable to Soul's avatar-first approach and immersive social networking model.
• Bumble: Bumble is a social and dating platform that uses AI for matching and emphasizes authentic connections outside traditional social media paradigms. Comparable in positioning around identity-anonymized or curated social interactions.
• MeetMe: MeetMe is a US-based social discovery platform with avatar features, group chat, and interest-based matching. Directly comparable to Soul's community-driven social networking model with avatar-based identity.

Regional players

• Yalla Group: Yalla Group operates voice-centric social platforms popular in the Middle East and North Africa. Comparable offering around group chat rooms and voice-based social interactions, though primarily focused on MENA markets.
• Wink: Wink is a Korean social networking app focused on interest-based matching and avatar identity. Comparable avatar-based product model and target market of young users, though primarily serving Korean users.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/soul-app

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds8 records

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Soul APP