Azar has facilitated over 100 billion video chats with an app that connects random strangers around the world. But until recently, the Seoul-based app, which shares parent company Match with Tinder, Hinge and OkCupid, wasn't available in the United States.
Breaking through the US market may be difficult. For millennials who grew up with access to platforms like Omegle and Chatroulette, random video chat apps were like Ouija boards. But instead of evoking jump-scare-inducing ghostly signs, these apps are known for unexpectedly producing men without pants, a horror that's probably scarier than anything supernatural.
Omegle was shut down last year as part of a $22 million sex trafficking lawsuit settlement. Chatroulette technically still exists, but South Park disparaged the site as a haven for sex offenders, and Salon praised it in 2010 (“Cause of Death: Penis”).
But Azar, whose user base is primarily Gen Z, benefits from something younger web surfers don't remember. And importantly, Azar is combining human and AI-based moderation to at least avoid non-consensual nudity.
“Whether it's an inappropriate image, audio, or text, it triggers an automated tool first and then a human moderator,” CEO Linda Kim told TechCrunch. spoke. “So our human moderators are immediately notified to investigate and take action.”
Image credit: Hazard
Kim moved to Seoul from the United States two years ago to lead Azar, the flagship product of video company Hyperconnect, which also operates a live streaming service called Hakuna Live. Match acquired Hyperconnect in 2021 for $1.73 billion.
Despite being part of a huge dating app like Match, Azar is clearly not a dating app, although some people use it for that purpose. The app, which works on web and mobile, is free to use, but in-app purchases give users more control over who they want to see based on gender and location. Azar may match you with people who don't speak a common language, but its text chat feature automatically translates messages.
“Our main users are mainly the younger generation, or Gen Z,” Kim says. “They really want spontaneous conversations and meeting someone in real time.”
Kim has seen that the user base skews younger. She also uses the platform to solicit travel tips for places she plans to visit, such as Taiwan.
“In fact, I never reveal that I am the CEO of the company, so I just pretend to be a user,” she said. “Sometimes they say, 'Oh, you're old.' What are you doing on this platform?”
Kim isn't old, as her rude chatter tells her, but she has enough experience to have worked at Apple in developer-related jobs around the world when the App Store first launched in 2008. It's loaded. At the time, she was the gaming and social networking category manager. Before moving to Zynga, visit the App Store. Her experience veered a bit from there, visiting both a cosmetics company and a diaper company, but she's now back to social apps.
Image credit: Hazard
Apps like Azar target Gen Z. Because Gen Z is a generation plagued by loneliness. Amy Wu, founder of AI-based mental health app Manifest, recently told TechCrunch that “there will be a unicorn that will address the loneliness epidemic.”
Still, the thought of having a face-to-face conversation with a stranger can be frightening for some people. Users can apply AR features to mask their faces, but when I disguised myself using one of these filters, my chat partner said, “I don't want to talk to a zebra.” fair enough.
As Hazard looks to gain a foothold in the U.S., the app will need to overcome its questionable reputation with random video chat apps.
“Safety is a real concern in the U.S. market,” Kim said. “We truly believe that the U.S. market will embrace Hazard given our focus on safety and our mission to truly invest in safety.”