Rippl founders at The Rippl Effect Media Summit 1.0 in Mumbai.
In a world driven by reviews, ratings, influencers, and algorithms, trust online is quietly breaking down. As fake reviews, paid endorsements, and manipulated discovery systems continue to flood the internet, Indian startup Rippl has launched with a mission to bring credibility back to digital recommendations.
Officially unveiled at its media summit, The Rippl Effect Edition 1.0 in Mumbai, Rippl is a trust-first social commerce platform designed around one simple belief: people trust people, not platforms.
The platform enables users to discover, save, share, and act on recommendations from real people they know, follow, or relate to. From shopping and travel to music, food, wellness, and content, Rippl transforms recommendations into a more personal, trusted, and community-driven experience.
At the center of the platform is MyRippl, a personalized recommendation identity where users and creators can curate everything they genuinely use, love, and recommend in one place. Positioned as more than just a link-in-bio tool, MyRippl acts as a living recommendation microsite powered by trust and authenticity.
As the internet becomes increasingly crowded with sponsored content and anonymous opinions, Rippl believes the real issue consumers face today is not discovery, but credibility.
According to industry estimates, a significant percentage of online reviews today are either manipulated, incentivized, or fake. Yet these reviews continue to shape consumer decisions across marketplaces, travel platforms, food apps, and social media. The result is a growing "trust deficit" online, where users consume more information than ever before, but feel less certain about what to believe.
Rippl enters this landscape as a social commerce platform focused on replacing anonymous recommendations with trusted curation from verified identities and real communities.
Unlike traditional creator tools that simply aggregate links or affiliate storefronts, Rippl combines social identity, recommendations, discovery, and commerce into one ecosystem. Users can explore trusted recommendations from creators and communities, while creators can build influence rooted in credibility instead of clutter.
The platform also enables creators to organize recommendations across categories such as shopping, watching, listening, eating, traveling, wellness, and more, creating a recommendation-driven internet layer that feels far more human and intentional.
The launch took place at The Rippl Effect, a curated media and creator summit in Mumbai that brought together voices across media, culture, startups, and the creator economy to discuss the future of trust online.
Chaired by Malini Agarwal, the event featured conversations with speakers including Nandini Bhalla, Viraj Sheth, and Saransh Goila, exploring how audiences are increasingly shifting away from anonymous internet opinions toward recommendations from people they genuinely trust.
The summit positioned recommendation culture as a larger behavioral shift - moving consumers from algorithm-led discovery toward trust-led decision making.
Speaking at the launch, Shikhar Vaidya, Co-founder of Rippl, said:
"The internet does not have a discovery problem. It has a trust problem. Too much of what we see online today is shaped by incentives instead of intent. Rippl is about changing that by making recommendations more human, accountable, and trustworthy again."
Smriti Dubey, Co-founder of Rippl, added:
"We are building for a more intentional internet. One where recommendations feel genuine, useful, and personal again. Rippl is designed to help people discover through trust instead of noise."
The company also enters the market with strong investor backing, signaling growing confidence around trust-led consumer platforms and the future of social commerce in India.
Rippl raised a $1.3 million Pre-Series A round, closed in August 2025, led by Silicon Road VC, Jaipuria Family Office, GKK Capital, along with participation from strategic investors and angels. Previous backers include Fluid Ventures, MeitY Startup Hub, Kunal Bahl, Rohit Bansal, SheCapital VC, and others.
The founders believe the next phase of digital commerce will increasingly revolve around trusted communities rather than pure algorithms. Instead of consumers buying products because a platform pushed them, Rippl envisions a future where decisions are shaped by people whose opinions genuinely matter.
As fake reviews continue to dominate digital ecosystems globally, Rippl is positioning itself at the intersection of trust, creators, identity, and commerce - building what it believes could become the internet's next recommendation layer.
With The Rippl Effect, the company has not just launched the platform, but introduced a larger conversation around authenticity online and how trust may become the most valuable currency of the next internet era.
Website: https://rippl.appInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/rippl.shop
About Rippl
Rippl is a trust-first social commerce and recommendation platform designed to help people discover and act on recommendations from real people, creators, and communities. Through MyRippl, users can build their own recommendation identity and curate trusted suggestions across shopping, travel, food, music, wellness, and more.
