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A TikTok clone called Zynn suddenly appeared at the top of the US App Store today.
It looks like a giant referral pyramid scheme, but also may be getting bankrolled by one of TikTok's biggest rivals in China, which just raised $2 billion from one of its OTHER rivals.
It looks like a giant referral pyramid scheme, but also may be getting bankrolled by one of TikTok's biggest rivals in China, which just raised $2 billion from one of its OTHER rivals.
Zynn, which just released on Android yesterday, has been climbing the iOS charts for two weeks. It just hit #1 this morning.
The UI is essentially a dumbed down TikTok.
It looks like they ripped most of the initial videos too - most accounts are not from one creator, but related to a specific theme. The dates are also weird, some videos have been around since Feb/March.
It looks like they ripped most of the initial videos too - most accounts are not from one creator, but related to a specific theme. The dates are also weird, some videos have been around since Feb/March.
There is also an aggressive rewards and invite feature. Earn small amounts of cash watching videos. Earn a lot more for inviting friends to do the same.
Zynn's big catch is you can never redeem all your cash. There are some pretty big rewards totals, like a $50 Amazon gift card.
The best way to get these? Invite your friends!
The best way to get these? Invite your friends!
Normally, I'd never think something like this was sustainable, but there are a few clues that hint Zynn is worth paying attention to.
Zynn's website states its owned by Owlii.
Owlii raised money in 2016 from Sunwei Capital, which was founded by Lei Jun, founder and CEO of Xiaomi.
The partner who led the round is Xing Meng, the COO DiDi's autonomous driving business.
https://zynn.us/
Owlii raised money in 2016 from Sunwei Capital, which was founded by Lei Jun, founder and CEO of Xiaomi.
The partner who led the round is Xing Meng, the COO DiDi's autonomous driving business.
https://zynn.us/
The most interesting piece though is that Owlii's site ( https://www.owlii.com/ ) also has a Kuaishou ( https://www.kuaishou.com/ ) logo...
Kuaishou is the second largest short-video app in China, and one of TikTok / Douyin / ByteDance's biggest competitors.
For context:
- ByteDance owns Douyin, Xigua, and Huoshan
- Tencent owns or has invested in both Kuaishou and Weishi
- Bilibili is a $11b public company.
For context:
- ByteDance owns Douyin, Xigua, and Huoshan
- Tencent owns or has invested in both Kuaishou and Weishi
- Bilibili is a $11b public company.
ByteDance has ~2x more Chinese DAU's than Kuaishou based on recent reports, and has also been growing like crazy globally.
Kuaishou recently passed 200m DAU's in China and reportedly did $7.2b in 2019 revenue (compared to BD's $17b), but has struggled breaking into the US.
Kuaishou recently passed 200m DAU's in China and reportedly did $7.2b in 2019 revenue (compared to BD's $17b), but has struggled breaking into the US.
Kuaishou just raised $2b from Tencent in December '19, ByteDance's biggest rival in China.
If there is actually a Kuaishou connection, we could see Zynn and its crazy referral scheme stick around for awhile. https://www.scmp.com/tech/apps-social/article/3041747/tencent-said-invest-us2-billion-short-video-app-kuaishou
If there is actually a Kuaishou connection, we could see Zynn and its crazy referral scheme stick around for awhile. https://www.scmp.com/tech/apps-social/article/3041747/tencent-said-invest-us2-billion-short-video-app-kuaishou
