24 October 2015

China unicorn* announces top 10 rankings in the Google Play store for Wi-Fi crowdsourcing app

Source: Play Store.
WiFi Master Key, a free Wi-Fi hotspot-crowdsourcing app, is seeing a surge in popularity in Southeast Asia as it helps a growing community get online in the region.

When a user shares a Wi-Fi hotspot with the community, other users can use the shared information in the database to get online for free. To protect privacy and security, the app does not reveal any shared Wi-Fi passwords; instead, it encrypts and stores the shared information in its cloud database.

Wifi.com, the Shanghai-based startup, which lets users easily and safely connect to free Wi-Fi hotspots shared by other users, was ranked 10th on Google Play's tools app chart in the Philippines for the week of October 19. In Indonesia, it is also ranked 10th, for tools apps.

The app became the No. 1 tools app in Malaysia last month, while also becoming the No. 5 most popular free app in the country. In Vietnam, it became on September 22 the No. 1 tool app, and the No. 5 free app in general.

Wifi.com founder and CEO Chen Danian said in a recent speech that WiFi Master Key has become an important tool for many on-demand services in China. He said: "WiFi Master Key will help more and more people get online for free, while providing better mobile services as we dig deep into our expanding data pool."

Launched in September 2012, Wifi.com set the record of being China's youngest unicorn mobile Internet company to achieve a billion-dollar valuation earlier this year, after closing a US$52 million Series A funding. As of August 2015, the app has connected a total of 700 million users, 360 million monthly active users, and an average of close to 30 million connections daily. WiFi Master Key set up regional headquarters in Singapore in May to tap into fast-growing markets in the region. 

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*A unicorn is a startup which is valued at more than US$1 billion. The figure is fairly rare, just like the legendary unicorn.