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Speaking with TechGraph, Harshvardhan Chhangani, Co-founder and CPO of FRND, discussed how most social platforms have been designed for English-first, content-first metro users, leaving people across Tier 2 and Tier 3 India without spaces built around how they naturally connect, and how this gap led FRND to move beyond appearance-driven discovery by building its core experience around voice interactions and AI-generated avatars that encourage more authentic conversations.
Chhangani also spoke about how this user-first approach extends to safety, with a gender-verification AI that validates voice recordings and a Matchmaker feature designed to recreate the trust of a mutual introduction, helping users express themselves more naturally without the pressure of being visually judged.
Read the interview in detail:
TechGraph: Historically, most social platforms have centered around visual identity, with profile pictures often influencing first impressions before a conversation even starts. However, FRND has opted for a different approach using AI avatars and audio-first interactions. What led you to believe that users were ready to move away from appearance-driven discovery and to engage with people in a fundamentally different way?
Harshvardhan Chhangani: Building for Bharat users meant starting from a fundamentally different set of assumptions. For our community, trust is enabled through every interaction with the product. So our priority was to make the experience genuinely seamless, which included intuitive navigation, easy-to-understand features, and no moments when a user feels lost or unsure. We also built in product nudges and safety guardrails as core design elements that helped users engage in the right way and feel assured that the space they were entering was safe and authentic.
On the product side, two decisions stand out. First, we made voice the primary mode of communication. Our users aren’t always comfortable with text. Voice is more natural, familiar, and expressive in a way that typing simply isn’t for many people in Tier 2 and Tier 3 India.
Second, we noticed early on that a lot of users from Tier 2 cities and beyond were hesitant to put their real photos on the platform. There’s a social conservatism that exists in these communities, and for women especially, there’s still a real stigma attached to being visibly present online. An avatar-based identity removes that barrier entirely. It meant that our community could show up, express themselves, and connect without any inhibitions.
These two product decisions helped our community present itself more authentically on the platform.
TechGraph: The internet has made it easier than ever to connect with others, yet many users still report feelings of loneliness and superficial engagement online. What behavioural shifts did you observe that convinced you there was room for a platform built around conversation and companionship rather than traditional social networking?
Harshvardhan Chhangani: We noticed very early telling signs that users were actively finding each other in Facebook and TikTok comment sections, switching to regional languages to have real conversations. They wanted to connect, but the infrastructure didn’t support it.
Most social platforms have evolved into content-first, broadcast experiences. But what made Yahoo Chatrooms and Orkut compelling was the simple act of being able to talk to someone. We’re building for that same fundamental need.
The gap was clearest in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. Metro users take third spaces for granted, like cafes, co-working spaces, and social venues. For our users, those spaces barely exist, physically or digitally. The social networks that were available were designed for English-first, content-first users. Bharat users were using them but making do with workarounds.
FRND was built to close that gap. Every product decision- regional language support, avatar-based identity, interactive room formats, and safety mechanisms has been made with this user at the centre. Today, our community spends an average of 30 minutes daily on the platform, across Connect Rooms, FRND Making Rooms, Social Gaming, and FRND Radio.
TechGraph: Many social platforms measure success through likes, followers, and visibility, creating environments where attention often becomes the primary currency. FRND operates with a very different premise. How do you think the absence of those conventional social signals changes the way people form and sustain connections?
Harshvardhan Chhangani: Every platform quietly pushes its users to develop a specific skill. Instagram rewards aesthetics. Twitter rewards compressed thoughts into a few words. LinkedIn rewards the ability to package your career as achievements. YouTube rewards the ability to hold attention over long-form content.
FRND rewards the ability to hold a conversation.
That’s the skill that gets sharpened on our platform. Not how you look, not how many followers you have, but whether you’re genuinely interesting to talk to. Whether you can listen. Whether you can make someone feel heard. For our users, their conversational ability is their moat.
TechGraph: The relationship between anonymity and authenticity has always been complex in digital communities. While anonymity can encourage openness, it can also create challenges around trust and accountability. How do you strike a balance between helping users feel comfortable expressing themselves and ensuring that interactions remain genuine and meaningful?
Harshvardhan Chhangani: Avatar identities on FRND aren’t random creations. They’re generated from real photos of the user. So the identity is grounded in reality, but it removes the social pressure of being visually judged before a conversation even begins. For users in smaller towns, especially women, this distinction helps them bring out their authentic selves.
Authenticity is enforced at multiple layers. Our gender-verification AI analyses a user’s voice recording to ensure the gender identity on their profile is accurate, a small but meaningful check that builds trust across the community.
On the accountability side, every user who monetises on the platform by redeeming virtual gifts above ₹100 to their UPI wallet goes through a full KYC process. Users flagged by our internal audit systems as risky accounts are blocked from withdrawals entirely.
While trust is designed into our product, it is earned by our community through their behaviour. We use conversation quality, repeat interactions, user reports, and moderation signals to continuously assess trustworthiness. AI continuously monitors conversations, not just profiles, to detect harassment, scams, coercion, and impersonation, allowing us to intervene before harm occurs.
The result is a community that feels safe and liberated to express themselves honestly, but structured enough that bad actors can’t operate without consequence. Comfort and accountability aren’t opposites. The right product architecture makes them work together.
TechGraph: Voice has emerged as one of the most personal forms of digital communication, yet most online interactions still rely heavily on text and visuals. What have you learned about how people communicate, build trust, and form connections when conversations are driven primarily by voice?
Harshvardhan Chhangani: Over 80% of conversations on FRND happen over audio, and that’s reinforced our belief that voice makes conversations more personal. The tone, warmth, humour, and hesitation make interacting more humane.
On FRND, users aren’t recognised by a profile picture or a follower count. They’re recognised by their voice. That becomes their identity in the community, and there’s something deeply humanising about that. You know someone by how they sound, not how they look.
What’s emerged organically from this is a culture of performance and expression we didn’t fully anticipate. Storytelling, shayari, and singing performances in group rooms are becoming an outlet for our users to showcase their talents. For many of them, this is the first time they’ve had an audience.
One user took this further; he does Doraemon impressions and uses the character to host fun competitions in group rooms, lifting the energy of everyone in the session. He just found a way to bring joy to a community, using nothing but his voice.
TechGraph: FRND’s Matchmaker feature introduces a different approach to social discovery at a time when algorithms increasingly influence who people interact with online. How do you ensure that technology helps facilitate meaningful conversations rather than reducing human connection to a matching exercise?
Harshvardhan Chhangani: The system learns from user behaviour over time. It understands who users repeatedly enjoy talking to and continuously improves the quality of introductions rather than simply maximising the number of matches. We also consider language, cultural context, interests, and communication preferences so that introductions feel natural rather than random.
While technology has a role to play, to ensure genuine human connections, we introduced the concept of a matchmaker or chaperon. FRND Matchmaker is designed around the identity of a common friend. Think about how meaningful introductions actually happen in real life. A mutual friend brings two people together, breaks the ice, gives them something to talk about, and then quietly steps back. There’s warmth and social proof built into that interaction from the start. You’re not approaching a stranger; you’re meeting someone your friend thought you’d like.
That’s exactly what a FRND Matchmaker does digitally. It introduces two users, shares conversation prompts to get them talking, and creates a container that feels safe rather than transactional. For our users, many of whom are stepping into social spaces for the first time, having that trusted presence in the conversation makes an enormous difference.
TechGraph: As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly embedded into digital experiences, AI avatars are evolving from simple visual representations into more personalised extensions of identity. How do you see the relationship between AI and online self-expression evolving over the next few years?
Harshvardhan Chhangani: I believe AI will fundamentally expand how people express themselves online by removing the friction that prevents authentic connections.
It can help people overcome language barriers, social anxiety, and the awkwardness of starting conversations. AI will recommend the right people to meet, suggest better ways to express thoughts, generate personalized avatars that can enhance their personality, and make conversations more engaging.
Over time, AI will become a personalized communication layer that understands our personality and intent. The key is that it should amplify who we are, not replace us. The best AI won’t create a new identity; it will help people express their real identity more confidently and naturally.
TechGraph: Many digital platforms today are grappling with questions around user well-being, responsible engagement, and the quality of interactions they enable. As a founder, how do you define success for a platform like FRND beyond metrics such as user growth and engagement?
Harshvardhan Chhangani: Growth and engagement are important, but they’re outputs, not the mission. For us, success is whether FRND helps create a more empathetic, responsible, and socially confident society. If users become more comfortable interacting across genders, cultures, and backgrounds, build meaningful relationships, and develop a greater understanding of people with different life experiences, we’ve created value that extends far beyond the platform.
I also believe social platforms don’t just reflect culture; they can gradually shape it. In societies where people are already comfortable with real identities and free-flowing conversations, more open social products emerge naturally. In more conservative societies, however, the first challenge is building trust, confidence, and social comfort responsibly. Platforms that can do this aren’t just building a successful product; they’re expanding the market for an entirely new generation of social experiences.
Ultimately, the long-term value of a social platform isn’t measured by the attention it captures, but by the social capital it helps create for individuals, communities, and society as a whole.
TechGraph: Looking ahead, do you believe the future of online social experiences will become more immersive and identity-flexible, or will users ultimately gravitate back toward real-world representation? And where do you see FRND fitting into that evolution?
Harshvardhan Chhangani: I don’t think it’s an either-or. Different contexts will require different forms of identity. For entertainment and gaming, people will increasingly embrace flexible, AI-powered identities. But when it comes to building meaningful relationships, trust becomes far more important. That’s where identities need to be grounded in reality, even if they aren’t direct representations of how we look.
At FRND, we believe the future lies in verified authenticity and flexible expression. Users should have the freedom to express themselves through AI-generated avatars and richer digital identities, while the platform ensures every profile is backed by a real person. That balance gives users the confidence to express themselves without sacrificing trust.