A South Korean social networking platform Blind, specifically targeting corporate employees, who want to vent out their workplace woes anonymously, is gaining innumerable users in the USA. The app Blind is basically a message board for users to discuss, debate and even gossip about anything that relates to the corporate world employee workforce like company policies, workplace politics or harassment and compensations.
The app was launched by South Korean startup TeamBlind in 2014. It was based on the idea of an internal message board used by employees of Naver the Korean internet giant. Blind got a wide reach and a user base in thousands of corporate companies in Korea.
In May 2021, the startup TeamBlind, attracted approximately 41.6 billion won or $37 million of Series C investment. In the latest funding round, existing investment companies, Storm Ventures and DCM Ventures of the United States, increased their stake. Also, global investment managers such as Main Street Investment, US Cisco Investment, and Singapore Pavilion Capital have newly joined
Platform for techies to discuss, debate & vent out
With success in South Korea, the startup launched the app in the United States in 2015 and soon became a must-have app. for Silicon Valley techies. Thousands of employees from top-notch companies like Uber, Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and top tech companies in the USA are using ‘Blind’ to express their thoughts and opinions. As per a media report, the app is being used by employees of over 2000 tech companies in the USA.
In the wake of many workplace scandals like Uber’s sexual harassment case or the startup Zenefit’s fraternity culture revelations, an anonymous platform like Blind is giving employees an outlet to vent their problems. In fact, according to a report, the ride-sharing app company Lyft recently took note of some of the accusations made on Blind by its employees and has been investigating the matter. The app had a #metoo section in recent times.
Stay anonymous & share the truth
Blind has a niche user base compared to other anonymous apps such as Whisper, or Secret. To create an account on Blind the user must have his workplace email address. According to the startup, the signing up is secure and the user can’t be traced by the email id. With the signing up the user is added to his or her company’s board that only employees of that firm can see. The private company channel is only created when over 30 employees of a given company have joined Blind by verifying the company email address.
Besides the individual company board, Blind also has a ‘tech lounge’ that allows conversations across companies. Blind can’t control or check the veracity of most content but the app sure can control any inappropriateness. In cases of statements on the platform becoming too negative or offensive, then there is an opportunity to flag it. When a particular content is flagged often it disappears and if the user is flagged over 7 times, then he or she is also banned.
TeamBlind that build the app has plans to expand their venture to countries like China and India. The success in the USA has helped them form a strong base outside South Korea.
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