Yope
Yope (Salo App, Inc.) is a freemium, AI-native mobile social app enabling friends-only photo and video sharing via lock-screen delivery, private groups, and AI-generated memory recaps. It serves individual users seeking private, non-performative sharing with close friends across 182 countries.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2021
- HeadquartersMiddletown, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Yope does
Yope (legal entity: Salo App, Inc.) is a privately-held consumer mobile social company founded on February 4, 2021, by CEO Bahram Ismailov (previously founder of GetClean and Peech) and CTO Pavel Rudkouski (formerly iOS engineer at Rakuten Viber and Kibo). The company is incorporated in Delaware with operational hubs in London and Lisbon, and is backed by institutional investors including Goodwater Capital, Inovo VC, and Redseed, alongside angel investors from BeReal, Zenly, Snap, Google, and AppLovin alumni.
The company's single product is a freemium, AI-native mobile app for iOS 16+ and Android that enables friends-only photo and video sharing. Core mechanics include lock-screen delivery of snaps (bypassing public feeds), private micro-community groups, customizable profiles (vibes, wallpapers, music, face pick), gamified streaks and levels, and an AI Recaps feature that generates personalized memory summaries from shared content. The product is positioned as an alternative to performative public social networks, emphasizing authentic sharing among close friends without algorithms, likes, or public feeds.
Yope distributes exclusively through the Apple App Store and Google Play Store and is currently free to download, with in-app purchases described as available but not publicly priced. The company reports 14M+ users across 182 countries, 500M+ photos and videos shared, 35M+ AI recaps watched, #1 Lifestyle app ranking in 12 countries, and a 4.7-star rating across 100k+ App Store reviews. No revenue, headcount, funding amounts, or monetization economics are publicly disclosed. The company remains venture-backed and pre-monetization at scale, with its go-to-market relying entirely on organic app-store discovery and social media presence on Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn.
Yope firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Yope
- Legal name
- Salo App, Inc.
- Website
- https://yope.app
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2021
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Yope (Salo App, Inc.) is a freemium, AI-native mobile social app enabling friends-only photo and video sharing via lock-screen delivery, private groups, and AI-generated memory recaps. It serves individual users seeking private, non-performative sharing with close friends across 182 countries.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Yope industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Consumer Social Networking App
- NAICS
- Information (51)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Community/Group Chat Platforms (BPAMACAH)
Keywords
Where Yope is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Middletown
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices3 records
Markets served
Yope business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Operations
Revenue model
- Freemium App Model: Free app download with in-app purchases and premium features likely available as upgrades. App marketed as 'free' on App Store.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Monthly | Free base app with in-app purchase potential |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels5 records
Yope product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Yope is an AI-native mobile social application that enables friends-only photo and video sharing delivered directly to recipients' lock screens, without a public feed, likes, or algorithm. It offers private micro-community groups, AI-generated personalized memory recaps from shared moments, gamified streaks and levels for engagement, and customizable profiles with vibes, wallpapers, music, and face picks. The app is free to download on iOS and Android and operates on a freemium model with potential in-app purchases.
Product overview
Yope is an AI-native, friends-only photo sharing mobile application focused on private micro-communities. The core product is a single unified mobile app (available on iOS and Android) that delivers photos and videos directly to friends' lock screens without a public feed or algorithmic content. Key features include AI Recaps (which generate personalized memory summaries from shared photos/videos), lock-screen delivery for instant friend visibility, private group sharing, gamification elements (streaks and levels), and custom profiles with customizable vibes, wallpapers, and face picks. The app positions itself as an alternative to performative social media, emphasizing authentic sharing among close friends rather than public audiences.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Yope App AI-native, friends-only mobile social app for iOS 16+ and Android that lets users share photos and videos directly to friends' lock screens without a public feed, likes, or algorithm. Includes private groups, AI Recaps, streaks and levels gamification, and customizable profiles with vibes, wallpapers, music, and face pick.
- AI Recaps AI-powered capability that converts shared photos and videos into personalized memory recaps for users. Integrated into the Yope app and consumed in-app rather than sold as a standalone offering.
Quantifiable outcome
- 14M+ users in 182 countries
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Yope
Customer profileSegments1 record
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Yope technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability4 records
Feature5 records
Yope partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators6 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Yope competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- Gas (Polaris): Gas is a teen-focused polls app that rewards social discovery of friends' answers. It overlaps with Yope's horizontal micro-community, gamified, friends-only positioning targeted at younger demographics.
- VSCO: VSCO is a photo-creation and sharing platform with private community features and subscription monetization. It overlaps with Yope around private creative photo sharing and represents a potential freemium benchmark for consumer photo social.
Direct peers
- Zenly: Zenly was a private friends-graph social app emphasizing intimate friend visibility rather than public feeds. Yope references prior Zenly investors among its backers and targets the same micro-community intimacy niche with photos and AI recaps.
- BeReal: BeReal pioneered the friends-only, anti-performative photo-sharing format that Yope directly extends. Yope's angel investor base explicitly includes prior BeReal investors, underscoring how directly comparable the two products are in concept and category.
- Dispo (David Dobrik): Dispo offers friends-only, time-delayed photo rolls targeting authentic social sharing. Yope competes in the same anti-algorithmic, friends-first category with overlapping value propositions around authenticity.
- Poparazzi: Poparazzi is a friends-only photo-sharing app where friends post photos of each other rather than the user self-posting. It shares Yope's anti-performative positioning and reliance on friend-graph density.
- Locket Widget: Locket is a friends-only photo widget that lives directly on the iOS lock screen — the same core mechanic Yope centers its product on. Both apps compete for the same wedge of private, lock-screen-native social sharing.
Broad incumbents
- Snapchat: Snapchat popularized private friend sharing, streaks, and ephemeral content — features Yope consciously remixes. As an incumbent with 400M+ DAU, Snap is both a distribution threat and a benchmark Yope is measured against.
- Instagram (Meta): Instagram's "Close Friends" feature directly competes with Yope's private-sharing wedge, and Meta has the distribution to clone or absorb AI-recap functionality. It anchors the competitive set Yope must differentiate against.
- Viber (Rakuten): Viber is a large-scale messaging and communication app — the CTO's prior workplace. It sits adjacent to Yope's private micro-community communication wedge as a benchmark for scaling consumer communication products globally.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Yope social profiles
Digital presenceYope financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Yope leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Yope funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Yope M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Yope
What does Yope do?
Yope is an AI-native mobile social application that enables friends-only photo and video sharing delivered directly to recipients' lock screens, without a public feed, likes, or algorithm. It offers private micro-community groups, AI-generated personalized memory recaps from shared moments, gamified streaks and levels for engagement, and customizable profiles with vibes, wallpapers, music, and face picks. The app is free to download on iOS and Android and operates on a freemium model with potential in-app purchases.
Is Yope a public or private company?
Yope is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Yope founded?
Yope was founded in 2021. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Yope based?
Yope is headquartered in Middletown, United States, in the North America region.
How does Yope make money?
One revenue line is on record: freemium App Model.
Who are Yope's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are Gas (Polaris) and VSCO. Direct peers are Zenly, BeReal, Dispo (David Dobrik), Poparazzi and Locket Widget. Broad incumbents are Snapchat, Instagram (Meta) and Viber (Rakuten).
Does Yope have an API?
No public API is recorded for Yope.
What industry is Yope in?
Yope's product category is Consumer Social Networking App. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAMACAH, Community/Group Chat Platforms. Its NAICS code is 51.