What Yope does

Yope is a private consumer mobile application operated by Salo App, Inc., a Delaware-incorporated company headquartered in Kyiv, Ukraine. The app enables Gen Z users to share photos and memories within private, invite-only friend groups — every album functions as a secret folder accessible only to invited contacts, with no public profiles, feeds, or interactions with non-invited users. Account creation is phone-number-based, leveraging Google's Firebase Authentication for verification and matching against the user's address book to suggest connections. The platform uses machine learning to automatically generate photo collages from user content, applies end-to-end encryption to content in transit, and is GDPR, CCPA, and Australian Privacy Principles compliant.

The company's core technology stack is a mobile-first application distributed through the iOS App Store and Google Play Store. It supports free usage with a premium subscription offering that removes watermarks on externally shared or downloaded content and eliminates video ads, billed monthly via the App Store with automatic renewal. Content shared on the platform is stored on Yope's servers only until delivered to recipients, after which it is marked for deletion after one month. The product roadmap includes video capabilities and personalized group wall features.

Yope pursues a product-led growth model targeting teenagers and young adults seeking alternatives to public social media. Distribution is primarily organic, leveraging a presence across TikTok, Instagram, Discord, LinkedIn, and Facebook. The company has scaled to approximately 2.2 million monthly active users as of February 2025 and achieved the #1 most downloaded app position in Australia in late November 2025 following teen migration triggered by Australia's under-16 social media ban. As of February 2025, Yope had raised a total of approximately $7.35M across four funding rounds, including a $4.65M seed round led by Goodwater Capital at a $50M post-money valuation.

Name

Yope

Legal name

Salo App, Inc.

Website

https://yope.tv

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Yope is a private Gen Z photo-sharing mobile app, operated by Salo App, Inc., that enables friends to share and preserve memories within secret, invite-only group albums. It serves approximately 2.2 million monthly active users globally and monetizes through premium subscriptions for watermark removal and ad-free features.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Middletown

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Subscription Offerings: Premium subscription model offering advanced functionality including watermark removal when sharing content externally, no video ads, and enhanced app features. Billed on a recurring basis with automatic renewal at the end of each billing cycle.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Yope is a private photo-sharing mobile application for iOS and Android that lets users create secret, friends-only group albums to preserve and share memories together. The app features ML-generated photo collages, end-to-end encryption in transit, automatic content deletion after one month from delivery, and a premium monthly subscription that removes watermarks and eliminates video ads. It targets Gen Z and young millennials who want intimate, non-public alternatives to mainstream social media.

Product overview

Yope is a single unified mobile application—Yope App—offering private, friends-only photo sharing. The core product is the free app enabling secret group albums and photo sharing among invited friends only. The company also offers subscription-based premium features (Yope Subscription Offerings) as add-on functionality that removes watermarks and eliminates video ads. The product is operated by Salo App, Inc. and targets Gen Z users, with key features including machine learning-generated photo collages and planned video and personalized group wall capabilities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Yope App A free, private photo-sharing mobile application for iOS and Android that allows friends to share and preserve memories together in secret group albums. All profiles are friends-only, every album is a secret folder accessible only to invited friends, and there are no public posts, feeds, or interactions with non-invited users. It targets Gen Z users seeking privacy-first alternatives to mainstream social media and is operated by Salo App, Inc.
• Yope Premium Subscription A paid monthly in-app subscription offering advanced functionality including the ability to remove the Yope watermark when sharing or downloading content outside the app and an ad-free video experience. Billed on a recurring basis with automatic renewal through the App Store.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

AI capability2 records

Feature3 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• BeReal: BeReal is a direct competitor offering a private photo-sharing app focused on friends-only daily captures with no public feeds. Its product positioning, Gen Z targeting, and anti-public-social-media branding closely mirror Yope's value proposition.
• Locket Widget: Locket Widget is a direct peer providing a friends-only live photo-sharing widget on iOS/Android home screens. It targets the same private-sharing-for-close-friends use case as Yope, with overlapping Gen Z appeal and a similar subscription monetization model.
• Dispo: Dispo is a photo-sharing social app that delays photo reveals, emphasizing authenticity and friend-only sharing. It competes with Yope for Gen Z users seeking alternatives to mainstream public social platforms.
• Poparazzi: Poparazzi was a direct peer in the friends-only photo-sharing social app category targeted at Gen Z. Its positioning around shared albums and no selfies directly parallels Yope's secret group albums feature.

Emerging players

• Gas (Polaris): Gas is an emerging Gen Z social app focused on polls and compliments within friend groups. While not photo-first, it targets the same teen demographic seeking private, friend-only interactions outside mainstream social media.
• NGL: NGL is an anonymous Q&A social app that gained traction with Gen Z. It addresses a different content format but competes for the same teen user base seeking private, friends-only experiences outside public social media.
• Geneva: Geneva is a group-based social app offering private communities with shared photo, video, and chat channels. It serves a similar friends-only sharing use case as Yope but with a stronger group/community orientation.

Broad incumbents

• Snapchat: Snapchat is a broad incumbent with private messaging, Stories, and friend-only sharing that directly overlaps Yope's core use case. It competes for the same Gen Z user attention but offers a much broader product portfolio.
• Instagram: Instagram's 'Close Friends' feature provides private photo sharing within a broader public social platform. As the dominant incumbent for Gen Z photo sharing, it represents the primary competitive threat and migration source for Yope.
• Threads (Meta): Threads is Meta's text-and-photo social platform positioning itself as a more intimate alternative to X/Twitter. It targets some of the same Gen Z users seeking less public, more curated social experiences that Yope serves.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/weareyope
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/yope-app/?viewAsMember=true
• Instagraminstagram.com/yope.app
• TikToktiktok.com/@yopeapp

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds5 records

Investors15 records

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 Yope